Realize
by NYGIRL09
Summary: Brooke got pregnant by Lucas, but who would have guessed that Chris ends up as the father figure. Brucas eventually.
1. Chapter 1

Starts off at the beginning of Season 5, follows the same basic storyline but goes off in a whole different direction

**Starts off at the beginning of Season 5, follows the same basic storyline but goes off in a whole different direction. Lucas did ask Peyton to marry him, and she said no, he goes to New York but does not tell Brooke about the proposal. This chapter just sets the story.**

2 years ago

"Ah! My head... Crap, why is it so bright? Ah! The one day I have a ton of meetings has to be the day I have a migraine." Brooke thought as she turned. She ended up hitting something and carefully opened her eyes.

"Crap what the hell is Lucas doing here?" Memories from the night before begin to flood her thoughts. She vaguely remembers Lucas telling her that his book is getting published. Ok then what… Oh right she decided that they needed to celebrate, one thing leads to another, and here she is lying in bed with Lucas. Lying naked in bed with Lucas. Yep, just another crappy day in the life of Brooke Davis.

Brooke ended up sneaking out of the hotel room, because after what Peyton and Lucas did to her she promised herself she would never help someone cheat. She would never become Peyton. Don't get me wrong Peyton is an amazing person, but with crappy choices. She would never make Peyton go through the pain and heartbreak she went through.

7 Months later

Of course Brooke ended up being pregnant; I mean Brooke Davis' life just needs to have drama. Brooke eventually accepted it; she even called Lucas to tell him about her pregnancy. But every time she called Lucas she got voicemail and when she would get a hold of him he was busy and vies-versa. She took it as the Gods telling her that she needed to let Lucas live his life, of course she felt bad, but with Lucas dating Peyton she would feel horrible if their relationship ended because of her and her son. Yes she's having a boy. Although with running a business she hadn't even had time to come up with a name. But hopefully Rachel would help in that department.

"Alright Rachel, yes Rachel I won't get any coffee," ever since Rachel found out Brooke was pregnant she had been watching her like a hawk.

"Crap, is that meeting today…well can… Hey! Watch where you're going asshole! Rachel I'll call you back. " Brooke yelled as some ass bumped into her and made her spill her coffee.

"Well you did just tell Rachel you wouldn't drink any coffee, any anyway for a woman who looks like she's about to pop, coffee isn't the best thing"

"Ok look ass! All you have to do is say sorry and walk away" Brooke said as she looked up. The minute she saw the person she stayed there with her mouth open.

"Chris Keller does not say sorry, he does however say that he will try to be more careful since you look ready to pop." Chris said with the usual smug face. "So what's new?"

"Well I don't know nothing much! I'm just dandy! I mean some idiot just made me spill my coffee and I'm pregnant but that's pretty much it!" She said giving him the coldest glare a person could give.

"Well congratulations…Wait is it mine?!"

"No idiot we haven't had sex in 4 years so of course it's not yours" She said as she started to walk away.

"Hmm well then it must be Lucas' how is the old guy anyway" He said following right behind her like a lost little dog.

"Me and Lucas aren't together" She said trying to end the conversation right there.

"Wait it wasn't cause of me. Right?" He said with of hint of worry in his voice. But Brooke was probably imagining that.

"I thought Chris Keller doesn't say sorry. And no its not cause of you." She said chuckling.

"Chris Keller doesn't say sorry. But Chris Keller does have a bit of a conscious. So what is it gonna be? Its gonna be boy right? Lucas would want a boy." He said rambling, not really expecting an answer.

"It's not Lucas' kid" she said quietly. She didn't want to lie about it but she wanted Lucas to find out before anyone else, especially Chris Keller.

"Yeah it is, I can tell. Only Lucas Scott would get Brooke Davis pregnant. But it's ok since you're obviously hiding who's the father I won't say anything"

Brooke didn't know what to say, she wasn't sure if she should just admit that Lucas was the father, or just keep going with the lie, but hopefully Chris would keep his word and not say anything. "Thanks Chris, I guess"

"But at a price" He interrupted. "Its nothing big, I just need a place to crash while I'm New York" He said with a smile, hoping he could convince Brooke to let him stay with her.

Present

So that's how Brooke Davis, CEO of C/B, ended up in a huge loft with a 1 year old boy and Rachel…and Chris Keller.


	2. It's Easier this Way

Present

_I wasn't planning to update this soon but with all the alerts and reviews I decided to update a little early. I hope you like it!!_

Present

"So how did you know Lucas was the father anyway" She asked hoping to bring up the conversation they had where Chris said he was only gonna crash at her place for "a while".

"I'm Chris Keller I know these things" He said as she gave him a skeptical look. "Ok you caught me I didn't I was just screwing with you, but then I noticed this could turn in my favor so I just kept going with"

"Nice, Chris, Real Nice. By the way when are you planning on… I don't know looking for your own place"

"Why would you want me to move anyway? Baby Chris would miss me to much… Wouldn't you Baby Chris." He said while picking up the one-year old.

"Ok stop calling him Baby Chris that's not his name!" She said yelling. She ended up naming him Nathan Brett Scott-Davis. She knew how Haley and Nate named their kid James Lucas Scott; she thought she might as well return the favor.

"Well I thought we agreed we would name him Chris" He said giving her a Duh! Look. "Whew! This kid needs to be changed Whew! By the way when are you potty-training him? I think its time"

"Well considering he's a year old, not for a while. Anyway Chris you don't clean up around here, so you could at least change him every once and a while. Since some of us are working, you know just earning the money we seem to need" She said looking up from her sketches.

"Well what about Rachel she doesn't change Brett at all!" Chris yelled as Rachel walked in.

The minute Rachel heard this she slapped him upside the head. "Yeah well at least I help pay the bills with some of the modeling jobs I have"

"Whatever I'm outta here I know when I'm not wanted" He said while walking out. "Dinner at six, right?" He said as he shut the door behind him.

xxxxxxxx

"Hey Hales! Come on we gotta go! The plane leaves in 45 minutes!" Lucas yelled as he tried to push Haley out of the door.

"Hey! Calm down it's not my fault we're late. I wasn't the one on the phone for half an hour fighting with Lindsay! Why are you fighting with Lindsay anyway?" She said as she strapped Jamie in the car.

"Its just she irritates me so much. The only reason I'm going to New York is because she hates the ending of my book." He said as he was rubbing his eyes, trying not to get frustrated.

"Well then change it. What's so hard about that?"

"That's just it! I like the way the book ended, it was realistic." He yelled. He knew he was being stubborn, be he ended it the only way he thought the book could end. The boy didn't see the comet again. What's the chance a person saw the same exact comet twice in their life.

"Luke you gotta understand her, the ending is depressing. I mean for a romantic novel it has a pretty sad ending" She said as they reached their destination.

"Look Haley the book ended the way it was supposed to end; I mean what do you want me to say. Lindsey broke off the engagement because apparently my 'comet' hadn't come back. I mean what sense does that make?!"

"Luke she's just threatened by the book. You wrote one whole book about Peyton. Now this book, with the ending of the comet not coming back into the boy's life. I mean come on what kind of ending is that? By the way are you planning on visiting Brooke while you're in New York?" She asked, hoping he wouldn't dodge the question like so many other times.

"After what happened last time, I doubt it." He said starting to get irritated

"Luke you're not seriously mad at her. Are you?" She asked looking him straight in the eyes.

"Oh what I can't be mad at her?"

"Uh, no"

"Why"

"Because Luke you go see her and end up in bed with her, after you guys have been broken up for what…4 years."

"Look Hales, she left! I mean she could've at least stayed so we could have talked about it. Is that too much too ask?! Besides it's just easier if we act like it never happened." He asked as he shut the door behind him and began walking into the airport.

xxxxxxxx

"Why do you put up with his shit anyway Brooke? I think its time to kick Chris out."

"Look I know Chris is annoying but it's just easier this way. I don't need him to go tell Lucas about Brett and exaggerate some details" She said as she got up to change Brett. Chris helped take some of the heat off her anyway. Whenever she had interviews and they asked about Brett and Chris she would just put on a stupid face and say nothing was going on between her and Chris and quickly change the subject to the newest accessory of C/B.

"Oh yeah what are you gonna do about him anyway?"

"What are you talking about? I already told you I'm not gonna kick him out just yet."

"No I'm talking about what Haley said" but immediately stopped talking as soon as she saw Brooke's confused face. "You mean Chris didn't…ugh I'm gonna kill him I told him to tell you… Listen" She pressed the play button on the machine and Haley's voice rung through the house.

"Brooke, hey I know we haven't talked in a couple months but Luke is going to New York for a couple weeks, and I don't know if he's told you anything, but I think you should see him considering what happened last time you guys saw each other, well call me when you have a chance. Bye"

As soon as Haley mentioned Lucas coming into town Brooke's face went pale. And Rachel took this as a sign to do some damage control. "Hey Brooke" She said as she was snapping her fingers in her face. "Brooke it's gonna be alright you said you've wanted to tell him the news so, this isn't so bad. If anything it's a sign that you should tell him"

Brooke wasn't sure how to respond she wasn't sure whether to be happy Luke was coming to New York or cry because she knew Luke was gonna hate her when he found out. But she went with cry. "Oh my God, Luke is gonna kill me when he finds out" As she started to sob. She had been expecting this for a while but know that the time was here she was hoping to wait a little longer. "Well it doesn't matter anyway I can't tell him while he's in New York. I mean he's away from Nate and Haley and he's gonna need his best friend and brother when I tell him he has a son so… I'll just avoid him for the next couple of weeks and then go break the news when he goes back to Tree Hill" She was trying to avoid Rachel's cold glare. "Look either way I can't tell him here Peyton will probably think that I'm trying to steal him from her anyway"

"Well Brookie whatever you decide, you need to tell him… and soon" Rachel said as she left the room.

"Well buddy, its looks like we're gonna tell your dad" she said as she stared into his big blue eyes. "I love you, you know that right?" He responded by making some gurgling noises and sticking his fingers into his mouth.

xxxxxxxx

"Hey Hales" Nathan gave her a quick peck on the lips

"Hey babe, God Lucas is such an ass. I mean he's going to New York and he's not even gonna talk to Brooke" Hales said as she buried her face in her hands.

"Look babe he's gonna have to go see her on his own time. He's just upset about what happened last time. He thinks she's trying to avoid him because every time he calls her he gets voicemail, or is busy."

"But I confronted Brooke about that she is busy, it's hard running a multi-million dollar company. And either way I told Brooke, Luke is gonna be in New York"

"How did Luke take this when you told him?"

"He didn't. I didn't exactly tell him" Haley said as she tried to avoid his glare. "What?! It just didn't seem like the right time."

"Well he's in for a surprise when he gets to New York. Does she even know that Lucas and Peyton aren't together anymore?"

"I doubt it. Every time I try to bring up it up she either changes the subject or instantly becomes busy."

xxxxxxxx

"Sawyer is there any coffee left from this morning" John said as he looked from his desk.

"I'm going home John" Peyton said with some sternness in her voice.

"Can you get me some coffee on your way out" John began looking at the papers on his desk again.

"No John I don't work here anymore" She said as she looked him straight in the eye.

"Excuse me" John began looking at her as if she was stupid.

"I quit John. I can't work here anymore"

John yelled out to her as she was walking out. "You're making a mistake!"

"No I'm fixing one" She quietly said to herself.

xxxxxxxx

**A/N**

**Alright so thanks for the all the reviews I was surprised at how many I got, but I have a question after Lucas finds out about Brett do you want Chris to leave the story or stay if you choose stay I'll try to find some way to incorporate him in the story.**

**Thanks again. Please Review.**

**Btw this is my 1st story so any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks**


	3. The Blues

Ok so I know I'm horrible I haven't updated in forever but it's just cause I couldn't figure out how Brooke could break the news to Lucas but I think I figured it out. Oh and I know Chris is a little bit of an ass but this chapter clears some stuff up. Oh and someone asked if Haley know about Brett, she doesn't. Ok enough rambling.

The Blues

"_Nice place you got" Chris looked around, inspecting his new home._

"_Yeah, whatever. Look Chris there are a couple of rules around here. Number one, don't break anything, as a matter of fact don't touch anything! Number two, you can't bring any random girls around here. Number three..." Brooke couldn't even finish because Chris interrupted her._

"_Ok I get it, Chris Keller will act good. Alright. So where's my new room" Chris asked while Rachel entered the room. "Oh! Pleeeaasssee tell me it's with her!"_

_Rachel just glared at him. "Ok rule number three, NO hitting on me!" Rachel scoffed._

"_Can't make that promise. But Chris Keller can promise he won't hit on you" Chris pointed to Brooke. "At least until after you have your kid." He whispered._

_Brooke just glared at him with that comment. "Ok rule number four no talking in third person!" Brooke wasn't sure what she was getting herself into._

xxxxx

"Ok Chris when you invited me to breakfast I thought you could at least help with Brett, if not at least hold the door open for me" Brooke said while struggling with the door with Brett and his baby carrier in one hand.

"I couldn't let that hottie think I was with you" Brooke began glaring at him. "No offense"

"Seriously I don't even know why I put up with your crap Chris; I'm beginning to agree with Rachel. Chris lately you've been an ass…more then usual" Brooke was wondering what had gotten into Chris lately. Sure Chris was an ass sometimes, but lately he was an ass 24/7. "I'm beginning to think this whole living arrangement isn't working out"

"Whatever" Chris just kept looking at the menu deciding what to order.

"No Chris its not whatever!" Brooke couldn't understand what had gotten into Chris lately.

"You need me Brooke" Chris just stared at Brooke who didn't understand what he was talking about. "Brooke you need me, see I know you need me. How? Because everyone just assumes Brett is mine cause of the blonde hair. But you and I know the truth."

"Chris..." Brooke wasn't sure what to respond to that. Was he telling the truth? Yes. Did she want him to know this? No.

"No Brooke you're right I have been an ass I've just, just been going through some stuff. Ok. I promise Chris Keller will act better."

"Thanks Chris"

"Ok enough of this mushy stuff Chris Keller is starving. And Baby Chris looks a little hungry himself. Don't you kid?" Brooke was surprised to how quickly Chris had changed. Chris on the other hand had planned this out. Was he being an ass? Yes. Did he purposely piss Brooke off so that his plan would work? Yes. Chris was just hoping that his plan didn't go and bite him in the ass at the end.

_5 days ago_

_Chris was sitting at the table watching Brett while Brooke and Rachel were at fashion week. "So Baby Chris what you wanna do today?" Chris just sat there waiting for a response. "Go to the park and help Uncle Chris get some hotties? I like the way you think kid." Chris started getting ready to go to the park when Victoria walked in._

"_Chris" Victoria said trying to grab Chris' attention._

"_Victoria what are you doing here?" Chris wasn't exactly scared of Victoria he just tried to avoid her as much as possible considering he thought she was the devil with too much botox._

"_I could ask you the same thing. Although I would know the answer, just mooching off of Brooke. But I figured out a way that you could make yourself useful around here."_

"_Huh?"_

"_Ugh, I knew talking to you would be useless. Hmm how do I make this simple? I need you. I don't know if you've heard but Lucas is coming back into town."_

"_How did you know that?"_

"_That doesn't matter. What does matter is that I need you to make sure Brooke does not tell Lucas the truth." She threw an envelope full of money at him. "If she does somehow see him make sure he thinks you're the father. I do not need him coming in and ruining everything I've done to fix this problem" She just stared at Brett. Its not that Victoria didn't love her grandchild. In fact she spoiled him. Its just she didn't need Lucas coming into the picture and ruining the C/B Company, she built. "Also make sure she does not even think about getting back together with him! I hope this is simple enough for even you to comprehend."_

Present

_Knock knock_

"Oh! Lucas come in."

"Hey Lindsey. How are you?"

_Horrible. _"Better. What about you?"

_Horrible. _"Uh Better. Yeah."

"Ok, so let's get down to business. The book is-"Lindsey do you ever miss me?" Lucas blurted out. But he needed to know the answer.

No answer.

No answer.

"You know it makes it a little less awkward if you change that blank stare and answer me."

"Luke- I don't know what to say" Did she miss him? Yes. Did she want him to know this? No.

"The truth. Just say the truth."

"Ok, of course I miss you we were engaged. It's just…it's just better this way. It's easier"

"Easier for who, Lindsey. God it's like I don't know you anymore" Lucas said as he started walking out.

"Lucas? Lucas come-" But she was interrupted by the door getting slammed.

xxxxx

"Alright lets go" Chris said as he carried Brett out of the restaurant.

"Thanks for this Chris. I just… Thanks" Brooke said sincerely as she stared into his eyes.

"Don't worry about it. Anyway so I think Baby Chris needs to get changed… Woah! Careful where you're going buddy" Chris said as someone bumped into him.

"Lucas" Brooke said surprised.

"Brooke" Lucas couldn't believe his eyes.

"Chris" Chris said trying to lighten the mood. But with the glares he was getting, he thought otherwise. "So… what's new?"

Lucas had to fight the urge to hit this ass in front of him. He didn't like Chris already when everything happened with Haley and Nathan. Then after the Fantasy Boy Draft "misunderstanding" he had more of a reason to hate him. But as he glared at Chris he noticed a blonde haired baby boy that he swore he had just heard Chris call Baby Chris. Perfect. Brooke Davis, Chris Keller, and Chris Jr. Just the world needed another Chris Keller.

xxxxx

Ok so hope you liked the update. Please Review.

**OneTreeHillForeverLover- Thanks for the review. Sorry I know I know you wanted Brooke and Lucas to meet but it's just so much already happened I didn't want to start some more drama but in the next chapter they will meet.**

**Mosie1213- I hope you liked this chapter. Sorry Chris is gonna stay a little bit longer.**

**BLove13- Thanks for the review. Everything you said about Peyton and Brucas is totally true lol. You're also right about Chris Keller that's why I have him in the story because he provides comedy in the most serious situations. And you were right about Lucas getting the wrong idea lol. Hope you liked this chapter.**

**Brucas2006- Thanks for the review. Chris Keller is going to stay in the story, so don't worry about that.**

**Raqndomer- Hope you liked this chapter. Chris is staying so hope you like it.**

**TeamSophia- Thanks for the review. I love Chris too so he's staying. Hope you like the update.**

**Nightlife Eyes- I loved your review so thanks. Chris is staying so don't worry about that. And Peyton and Lucas are not getting together so don't worry about that. To answer you're question Haley does not know about Brett. I'm with you Peyton annoys me most of the time too. And don't worry I'm gonna get Brooke to find out that Lucas and Peyton are not dating pretty soon. Ok hope you liked the chapter.**

**PurelyLilly4- Seriously I loved your review. So I hope you liked this chapter. Chris is staying so I hope you like that. And in this chapter you can see that he has a bond with Brett or Baby Chris lol, and you were right Lucas does think its Chris' baby. Please Review!**

**TutorGrrl- Thanks for the review. Chris is staying in the story so I hope you like that. And thanks for the suggestion, I might use when the story moves to Tree Hill. So thanks. Hope you like the update.**

**brookenlucas4eva03- Thanks for the review. I hope you like the update.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Wow

**Alright I'm sorry about how long it took to update but life seems to get in the way but I made it a little longer for the wait.**

"Wow! Good job buddy!" Nathan told Jamie. They were playing basketball outside while Haley just stood on the sidelines looking at Jamie and Nathan. It was times like this when Nathan knew he had everything, yeah maybe life didn't turn out like planned but at the end of the day that's what made it fun.

"Momma did you see that!" Jamie yelled excitingly as he started jumping around.

"Yeah I did babe. Good job! That was awesome" Haley yelled as Nathan started jogging over.

"Hey" Nathan pecked her on the lips.

"Hey. Good Job out there"

"Well I try" Nathan smirked.

"Yeah, Yeah Mr. Humble" Haley said while rolling her eyes.

"Hey maybe I would do better if I had my cheerleader out there" Nathan smirked. But when Haley didn't answer he knew something was wrong. "Hey are you ok?"

"I don't know. It's just Lindsey called and said that Luke stormed out of her office. And… I don't know I'm just worried about him." Haley shook her head. She really was worried about Luke he was her best friend and she wasn't sure what was going through his head. She knew he loved Lindsay, but he was devastated when Brooke stopped answering his calls a couple of months ago. And oddly enough right when Brooke stopped answering his calls is when he proposed to Lindsay. Haley was confused with Lucas' actions, but she was sure he was just as confused if not more.

"Look what does she expect from him, for him to just act like if nothing happened. She broke of the engagement Hales. Look let Luke deal with this his own way. That's the only way he'll be able to get over this." Nathan was just as confused as Haley but he knew a couple of weeks in New York would do him some good. Just a week before he proposed to Lindsey he was planning a trip to New York. But Nathan never knew what happened with that because just a week later Lucas and Lindsey got engaged. And when Nathan asked about the trip Luke said it was canceled and made him promise not to tell Haley about the trip he had planned.

"Yeah maybe talking to Brooke will do him some good."

"Yeah hopefully" Nathan really hoped his brother could get his head on straight, the Ravens really needed him for the championships.

"I think he just needs some closure with either one of them" Haley just stared at him when he started smirking at her "What?"

"Who are you rooting for?"

"What?"

"Come on who are you rooting for your best friend Lucas to be with?"

"I want him to be with who his heart tells him to be with" Haley smirked hoping that was a good enough answer to make him stop.

"And you want his heart to tell him to be with…?" Nathan stopped hoping Haley would finish the sentence.

"Peyton"

"Peyton? What does Peyton have to do with this? I think she's out the picture Hales." His wife sure had some crazy ideas.

"No Peyton." Haley pointed behind Nathan.

xxxxx

Her thoughts were going at a million miles per hour she wasn't even sure what she was doing. She had hoped her friends would be happy to see her, but she wouldn't be surprised if they weren't. She stopped answering their calls and e-mails when she turned Lucas down. She wasn't even sure what Lucas was up to. Either way she knew she needed to come home, her heart kept telling her to come home, if it was cause she grew up here or cause Lucas lived here she didn't know but she knew when she saw Lucas all the pieces would fall into place. She just hoped she wasn't making a mistake.

"Hey" She said quietly

"Peyton?" Nathan said questionably as he saw her.

"Hey Nate." She started getting even more nervous when she saw Nathan's face. She couldn't tell if it was a good surprise or bad surprise.

"Peyton? Oh my god! Hey!" Haley yelled as she started walking over to Peyton.

The look on Haley's face was enough to convince her that she was doing the right thing.

xxxxx

He wasn't sure what do as he walked the streets of New York. He wanted to see Brooke but he wasn't sure if it was a good idea considering she started ignoring him a couple of months ago. That pissed him off for sure but he knew Brooke knew he was in town, cause Nate called him and told him that Haley had called Brooke before he went to New York,. He wanted to make things right with Brooke, but now he wasn't sure what to do. A couple of months ago he was thinking about coming to New York to fix things, but fate stepped in and made him think twice about that.

_Flashback_

_Lucas had just finished sending an e-mail to Brooke talking about how they needed to talk. He just hoped that she would actually reply this time though._

"_Hey Luke what are you doing?" Lindsey noticed that he looked strange, as if he was conflicted._

"_Hmm? Oh uh just looking at some airfares I was thinking…" But he stopped as soon as he looked up and saw that Lindsey found an engagement ring._

"_Luke?" Lindsey just stared at the ring while her eyes where filling with tears._

Present

And that was that. He proposed to Lindsey. Come to think of it Brooke never did respond to his e-mail.

"Hey Hales I just got out of meeting with Lindsey…things didn't go as planned….umm can you call me back? Ok so…" He was interrupted when he bumped into someone.

"Woah, Careful where you're going"

He recognized that voice. Of course it belonged to Chris.

"Lucas"

That voice was unexpected.

"Brooke"

xxxxx

"Lucas"

It was really Lucas. She knew he was New York because of Haley's message but he couldn't even call her to tell her he was in New York. She was still confused about some things especially when he started ignoring her a couple of months ago.

"Brooke" Lucas seemed to say her name with some surprise, like if he was seeing a ghost.

"Chris"

As soon as Lucas noticed Chris she could see the anger in his eyes. And then his eyes shifted to? Brett. Crap, Brooke forgot about Brett. Pretty soon confusion replaced the anger in his eyes.

"So…what's new?" Chris

"Lucas" Brooke had to bring the attention back to her, once she saw Lucas' eyes she could tell he was fighting the urge to punch Chris. "Lucas, how long have you been New York?"

"Hmm? Umm not long. Who's this?" He pointed to Brett. And Brooke just froze she didn't want to truth to come out like this, especially not in front of some restaurant in the middle of the street.

"This is Brett. Say hi Brett." Chris said, trying to save Brooke from an awkward situation. As soon as Luke started to stare at Brett he felt…different, something he couldn't explain. It also didn't help that Brett kept staring at him with his big blue eyes. Pretty soon an awkward silence hit them.

"Umm Brooke I'm gonna go. Let you guys catch up" Chris started walking away.

"Chris!" Brooke yelled trying to get Chris to come back.

"No Brooke it's alright" Chris just kept walking away.

"So…" Luke wasn't sure what to say. This was one of the most awkward situations he had been in.

"So…where are you staying?"

"Just this hotel up the street" Then came the awkward silence again. "Umm how about you walk me there…unless you're busy?"

"Umm yeah sure. So how's life?"

"Good. I started my second book"

"Really, that's cool what's it about?" She read his first book and was surprised at how easily she read it. She usually didn't read books, and if she did, it took longer than 3 weeks to read it. But with his book she finished it in 3 days.

"Umm its about this comet, if you want I can lend you a copy."

"Yeah that would be great. Hey Luke how about we have dinner tomorrow night. You know just to catch up."

"Yeah to catch up. That would be great." He gave her a hug and walked in his hotel room. Pretty soon he started thinking about how much her life had changed, he didn't even know she had a relationship with Chris, much less that she had a baby with him, he also wondered what kinda excuse she would give him for ignoring him the last couple of months, but if he had to guess it had something to do with Brett.

xxxxx

As soon as she left his hotel she started thinking about how she would break the news of Brett to Lucas. She wasn't even sure if she should tell him. The news would devastate him. She started feeling horrible. But she also wondered how he would explain ignoring her the last couple of months, considering he never answered a single e-mail she sent.

xxxxx

Peyton, Haley and Nathan spent the whole afternoon catching up but all three had successfully avoided the subject of Lucas. But they also wondered how long it would take for him to come up.

"Hey Peyt wanna come inside, we're about to have dinner." Haley started cleaning up and walked inside.

"Uhh, sure if you guys don't mind?" She had noticed that Nathan was still acting weird towards her.

"Yeah Peyt come inside we'll order pizza." Nathan still wasn't sure what to think of her coming back. He wasn't sure if she came back for Lucas or she came back for herself. But either way he just hoped that she didn't bring any drama into their lives. Nathan noticed they had a message and Lucas' voice rang through the house.

"_Hey Hales I just got out of meeting with Lindsey…things didn't go as planned….umm can you call me back? Ok so… Brooke?"_

As soon as the message had finished Haley and Nathan just stared at Peyton wondering how she would respond.

"So where's Lucas?" Peyton had been hoping for something like this to happen.

"Umm well he went to New York for a couple of weeks." Haley hoped she wouldn't ask too much.

"Oh so he went to go visit Brooke?"

"No he went cause he needs to finish his book" Nathan glared at Peyton, now he was 100 sure she came back for Lucas.

"Oh so he wrote he a new book?" Peyton was surprised at how Nathan glared at her, although she always thought he supported Brooke and Lucas' relationship more then her and Lucas' relationship.

xxxxx

Pretty soon Chris got home and wondered what had happened with Lucas and Brooke; he just hoped his plan would work.

_Flashback_

"_I need you to make sure Brooke does not tell Lucas the truth." She threw an envelope full of money at him. "If she does somehow see him make sure he thinks you're the father. I do not need him coming in and ruining everything I've done to fix this problem, also make sure she does not even think about getting back together with him! I hope this is simple enough for even you to comprehend."_

_Chris couldn't believe that Victoria thought she could just buy him off. "And if I don't go along with this plan?"_

"_That's not an option." Victoria said while she stormed out._

"_It is with me" He said before she slammed the door shut._

Of course he couldn't go with her plan, he didn't go with Dan's plan to seduce Haley and he wasn't going to now. He hoped if he acted nicer towards Brooke and Brett it would make Lucas jealous, and hopefully Lucas would feel attracted toward Brooke. He just hoped that Lucas would screw this up just like he had other times in their relationship.

xxxxx

Victoria sat in her C/B office hoping Chris was smart enough to go along with her plan, if he didn't she would figure out some way to destroy him. She had done her part to make sure that Brooke didn't run C/B into the ground, now it was his turn. Some people would call what she did extreme but she needed to make sure Brooke and Lucas didn't keep in contact, especially after what Brooke had told her a couple of months before Brett was born.

_Flashback_

_The morning after Lucas and Brooke had slept together, Brooke missed a meeting and was trying to avoid Victoria._

"_Brooke!" Obviously it didn't work._

"_Uh, can't talk mom I'm running late to a meeting." Brooke said trying to walk away._

"_Ugh! Brooke how many times do I have to tell you, call me Victoria mom makes me sound old. And anyway you already missed the meeting Brooke. What are you thinking Brooke! Your assistant told me you went out with some boy from Tree Hill." Victoria said with disgust._

"_Lucas. His name is Lucas!"_

"_Whatever his name is Brooke, you should think about your actions, you have responsibilities now! You have far too much to lose!" Victoria said while walking out._

"_And Lucas Scott was the one boy I might have lost it for."_

Brooke thought Victoria hadn't heard her, but she had, and from then on promised herself she would do anything to keep Brooke from Lucas. Even if she had to make sure Brooke didn't receive any e-mails or phone calls from Lucas or vis-versa.

**Alright please review.**

**TeamSophia- I loved your review of course I made Chris be the better person I couldn't make him plot against Brooke. And believe me with you I agree Lucas is clueless 95 of the time lol. Ok hoped you liked the update. Please Review!**

**brookenlucas4eva03- Thanks for your review I hoped you liked the update!**

**fanfictionfanatic15- Thanks for your review. Believe me in this story Brucas is endgame. Alright please review!**

**othfan326- Thanks for your review. Don't worry everything will be cleared up pretty soon. Please Review.**

**Brucas2006- Thanks for you review. I hope you liked this update, Please Review.**

**Mosie1213- Thanks for your review. I am so so sorry about Chris, but I'm trying to make him more likeable. But I hope you liked this chapter. Please review!**


	5. Beautiful Tragedy

Lucas

**The chapter is pretty long but some stuff needed to happen so I hope you like the length of the chapter.**

Lucas. She could talk about him for hours and still not even scratch the surface of why she loved him. He always saved her. He knew just what to say to make her heart skip a beat. He knew when she needed him. He was always…there. When everyone else left, he stayed. He was a constant in her life. It was just as simple as that she loved him because he was there. When everyone left, her dad, both of her moms, Jake, her brother, Lucas stayed. She loved him because he stayed.

xxxxx

Lucas. She changed her outfit 8 times for their dinner and she still couldn't figure out what to wear. What do you wear when you break someone's heart? Because that was what she was gonna do when he found out about Brett, he was instantly going to become Dan, at least in his mind. Lucas could never be Dan, where Dan was heartless Lucas had the biggest heart a person could have. Where Dan had no conscience Lucas was guided by his conscience. Dan cared about himself and no one else, Lucas put other people's feeling in front of his own. Dan never changed someone's life, whereas Lucas changed hers.

xxxxx

Brooke. He changed his outfit so many times to impress her, that he lost count. He was acting like such a girl. He wasn't even sure why he was so nervous, but he felt like this was one of those moments. One of those moments you could point to and say that's where everything changed, in the words of Brooke Davis. He laughed he couldn't believe he was acting like this; if Nate saw him like this he would never let him live it down. But that's what Brooke did to him; she made him act like a love-sick teenager, even when they weren't dating.

xxxxx

"God look at her, she's acting like if they were going on a date or something."

"Well it kind of is." Chris said.

"No it's not, she told him it was to catch up, he thinks it's a lunch between two friends."

"Come on when have Brooke and Lucas ever been 'just friends'." Chris laughed he knew they were going to end up together he saw the way Lucas had looked at her yesterday morning at breakfast, it was anything but friendship.

Rachel laughed she remembered hearing how Lucas and Brooke tried to be friends but ended up being friends with benefits. "Oh yeah she told me he was like 'don't leave' who says that out of nowhere."

"Rachel" Brooke said from her bedroom.

"Yeah Brooke?"

"Oh so you can hear me? So you are aware that I can hear everything you guys are saying." Chris and Rachel just started laughing. Brooke walked out of her room and just glared at them.

"Ok shut up you guys aren't helping!"

"What Brooke? What are we supposed to do? You're being such a baby!" Brooke just threw a pillow at her. "Ow! Bitch!" Rachel yelled as she threw it back.

"You know what you guys need? Whipped cream." Chris suggested.

"Shut up!" Rachel and Brooke yelled.

"Just trying to help." Chris shrugged.

"Ok you guys need to calm down Lucas is going to be here any minute and I'm still not ready."

"Why is Lucas going to be here any minute?" Victoria's voice rang through the house. Brooke just froze and cursed under her breath. Victoria had never been part of the Lucas fan club in fact she was pretty sure Victoria hated him.

"Umm Victoria what are you doing here?"

"Hey Chris I left something in the lobby do you want to come with me to go get it?" Rachel said as she walked out with Chris close behind.

"You didn't answer my question Brooke." When Brooke didn't answer Victoria repeated her question. "Why is Lucas coming?"

"Because we're going to have dinner." Brooke was really starting to get annoyed at Victoria, she attempted to control every part of her life Rachel and Chris always told her to stand up to Victoria and now was as good as time as any.

Victoria laughed when she heard Brooke's answer. "No you're not."

"Excuse me?" Brooke turned around.

"You are not going out to dinner with him. I have spent too much time building C/B for a boy to come ruin it." Brooke just stared at Victoria. She couldn't believe that Victoria had the audacity to tell Brooke who she could and could not see. Victoria wasn't around during high school so she didn't understand Brooke and Lucas' history.

"You can't tell me who I can't and can see mother. When I go to dinner with him I'm telling him the truth. He deserves to know." Victoria just laughed at Brooke.

"And what do you think is going to happen? That he's going to learn the truth and just forgive you and that's that. That you two are going to live happily ever after."

"Maybe not mother. You're right maybe he won't forgive me. But he deserves to know. God I can't believe I let you convince me not to tell him the truth."

"Yeah well it didn't take to much convincing. You know I had the right idea not to tell him."

"I'm telling him the truth tonight. I don't care what you think. I've let you push me around for to long. This is over. I'm telling him. And then me and you are through. You took advantage of the trust I gave you." Brooke was on the verge of tears.

"Fine tell him. Tell him he fathered a child that he doesn't even know about. But don't expect me to pick up the pieces when he leaves you."

"Brooke is that true?" Brooke turned around and turned pale she didn't expect him to find out like this.

xxxxx

Chris and Rachel stood in the lobby wondering how long it would take for Victoria to walk out of the elevator. Rachel was sitting down reading some tabloid while Chris just sat there staring into space. Just then Chris saw Lucas walking into the lobby.

"Hey Rach I'm gonna go check on Brooke" Chris started walking away hoping to beat Lucas upstairs because if not he knew all hell would break loose.

"Lucas you know it's not nice to listen in on people's conversations." When he got upstairs he saw Lucas hanging out in front of door.

"Yeah well Brooke is having a conversation with someone or a fight either way I'd rather wait out here."

"Yeah that's her mom. She's a bitch." Lucas just kept quiet trying to hear their fight.

"You can't tell me who I can't and can see mother. When I go to dinner with him I'm telling him the truth. He deserves to know." Victoria just laughed at Brooke.

"What truth?" Lucas asked Chris.

"I think it's better if she tells you." Chris just hoped that they wouldn't give away too much info.

"I think we should tell them we're out here." Chris started walking towards the door but Lucas put his hand out to stop him.

"No wait." Lucas whispered.

"Maybe not mother. You're right maybe he won't forgive me. But he deserves to know. God I can't believe I let you convince me not to tell him the truth."

"What are they talking about?"

"Look before Brooke tells you the truth I think you should know that she wanted to tell you but she let Victoria get to her and convince her not to tell you."

"Yeah I heard that but what does she want to tell me?" Chris just shrugged, he knew if anyone should tell Lucas it should be Brooke.

"You took advantage of the trust I gave you." Lucas couldn't understand how Brooke trusted her mother. He hadn't even met her and he knew she didn't have Brooke's interest at heart; she just cared about C/B.

"Fine tell him. Tell him he fathered a child that he doesn't even know about." Once Lucas heard this he felt like he had been hit in the stomach.

"What!?"

"Shh!" Chris knew all hell had just broken loose once Lucas heard that.

"Is this true?" Lucas asked Chris. It couldn't be his. Brooke wouldn't keep this from him. But then he saw Chris nod. He had to talk to Brooke; he needed to know the truth.

"But don't expect me to pick up the pieces when he leaves you."

"Brooke is that true?" Lucas just stared at Brooke. She instantly turned pale when she saw him, as if she just saw a ghost. Victoria glared at Lucas she just ruined everything she worked so hard to keep from him.

"Yes it is. But we weren't talking about you." Victoria hoped that Brooke would keep her mouth shut and not cause anymore trouble.

"Mother!" Brooke just glared at Victoria. "Yes it's true." Brooke avoided looking Lucas in the eyes she didn't want to see the hurt or confusion.

Lucas couldn't understand this. He had a child. It couldn't be true; she would've told him something like this. But he saw the look on Brooke's face and knew it was true, she wouldn't lie to him about something like this. "I need to go." Lucas ran out of there but was stopped by Chris.

"Look man I know this is a lot of information in one night, but you need to talk to her."

Lucas was surprised to see Chris act like if he cared about something other then himself but obviously a lot and changed in Brooke's life. "I just need a minute to breath."

"Yeah I'll go talk to Brooke." Chris walked inside and just saw Brooke in tears; this was turning out to be a pretty dramatic evening.

"See Brooke I told you he was going to leave you. Just like he left you twice for your supposed 'best friend'." Victoria sneered. "He's just like his father, the mayor of that hick town, he's going to abandon his own son. Obviously the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I wouldn't be surprised if he already knocked up Peyton."

"Don't listen to her Brooke, Lucas would never do that."

"Shut up Chris. I will talk to you later." Victoria glared at Chris he didn't hold up his end of the deal so she was going to deal with him later.

"No Victoria. Tell Brooke the truth tell her how you tried to buy me off. How you offered me money to keep her away from Lucas." Brooke lifted her head out of her hands and just stared at Victoria, she knew her mother was extreme but to offer Chris money was crazy.

"Mother?" Brooke wanted to believe her mother didn't do that, that Chris was just lying but Victoria seemed unfazed.

"What? What do you want me to say? It's the truth. I'm just trying to look out for you Brooke."

xxxxx

He couldn't breath. He was pretty sure he was having something similar to a hear-attack. He couldn't believe he was a father. This wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to been there during the birth, during the pregnancy. He was supposed to see his son grow up. He couldn't believe this was happening.

"See Brooke I told you he was going to leave you. Just like he left you twice for your supposed 'best friend'. He's just like his father, the mayor of that hick town, he's going to abandon his own son. Obviously the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I wouldn't be surprised if he already knocked up Peyton." Lucas couldn't believe that Victoria was saying this. How did she know their history? She wasn't around during high school. He was nothing like Dan; he wouldn't abandon his own child. He promised himself after Brooke's pregnancy scare that it didn't matter how bad the timing was he would always be in his child's life.

"No Victoria. Tell Brooke the truth tell her how you tried to buy me off. How you offered me money to keep her away from Lucas." Victoria was downright crazy. He couldn't believe she offered Chris money to keep her away from him. Then he heard Victoria say she was looking out from Brooke and he knew that was crap she didn't care about anyone. Pretty soon he started to calm down and was ready to meet his son. He was actually excited to see him. Of course he had already seen him but last time he really didn't look at him.

"Victoria I think you should go." Lucas glared at her, he was angry with the things she had said about him.

Victoria just laughed at him. "And who do you think you are to be giving me orders. This isn't your house. Actually you haven't been here in years and you come in here-"

"Victoria leave." Brooke said calmly, Victoria just stared at her surprised that Brooke was talking to her like that. But she just walked out knowing that she was outnumbered.

"Umm Chris could you give me and Lucas a minute."

"Yea sure." Chris started walking out.

"Ummm do you want to sit down?" Lucas just nodded his head and sat down. Both of them sat down in an awkward silence neither knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry." Brooke whispered, but Lucas just nodded not knowing what to say.

"Can you just tell me what you're thinking it's killing me that you're not saying anything."

"What can I say?" His voice was cracking because he was holding back tears.

"Anything. Just tell me what you're feeling." Brooke was breaking down at this point.

"I don't want to say anything I might regret later." Lucas wanted to yell at her, for being so stupid for not telling him, he wanted to make her feel bad for what she did but he knew that wouldn't change the past, that wouldn't change anything it would just make the situation worse.

"Lucas please just yell, throw something, anything." Brooke felt even worse that he was just sitting there acting as if everything was ok when she knew that it wasn't.

"Brooke what do you want me to do? You want me to yell at you that you should've told me, because you already know you should've. You want me to tell you that I hate you for what you did, cause guess what Brooke I don't I'm mad as hell but I don't hate you. You want me to say that I'm angry cause I have a kid, cause I'm not I'm glad I have a son. I don't like how or when I found out, but things happen." Brooke was bawling at this point he was making her feel even worse, she would've preferred that he yell at her. Lucas just looked at her crying, and immediately went to her side and hugged her.

Brooke started laughing at the situation they were in. "How is it you find out I kept your son from you and you're the one that ends up comforting me." Lucas chuckled knowing that she was right most people wouldn't understand why he wasn't yelling at her, but he after what he saw tonight he couldn't yell at her.

"Hey we both know I'm far from perfect." He started wiping the tears from her face. "How about this from now on we tell each other the truth. Ok?" Brooke just nodded. "Cause you can't get rid of me now Brooke Davis." Brooke chuckled. "I'm in your life forever now." Just then Rachel walked in seeing Brooke was in tears and Lucas sitting next to her.

"Ass! What the hell did you do to her?!" Rachel walked over Lucas ready to slap him.

"Rachel it's ok. Lucas didn't do anything." Rachel just looked at Lucas not convinced. "He knows Rachel." Rachel was surprised, she was sure that Victoria had convinced Brooke not to tell Lucas.

"You know?"

"I know." Lucas stated.

"Well congratulations I guess." Rachel laughed she wasn't sure what to say.

"So I guess you should meet your son." Lucas immediately tensed up, and Brooke noticed. "You don't ha-"

"No I want to." Brooke led Lucas to Brett's bedroom where he was asleep. Lucas just stared at him in awe. "What's his name?"

"Nathan Brett Scott." Brooke whispered not wanting to wake him up. Lucas chuckled Nathan would love this when he got home. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah I couldn't come up with a better name." Lucas wanted to wake him up and just play with him, but he knew out of experience with Lily that babies didn't like that.

"Hey do you wanna stay the night, I have an extra room that way you could be here when he wakes up."

"Uh yeah I would like that."

xxxxx

Lucas woke up to cries ringing throughout the house. He couldn't help but smile, he stayed up half the night wondering how the day would go. He walked out of his room and saw Brooke carrying Brett out of his room.

"Hey, you ok hmm? Why are you crying? I'm here." Brooke said trying to soothe him.

"Hey" Brooke just turned around surprised to see Lucas up.

"Hey did he wake you up?" Brooke said still trying to calm him down.

"Yeah it's ok though what time is it?"

"Uh close to 8:00" Brooke glanced at the clock.

"Wow does he usually wake up this early?"

"Yeah usually." She shrugged. "You get used to it though. Do you want to feed him?"

"Uh sure." Brooke handed Brett to Lucas and went to the kitchen to start breakfast.

xxxxx

"Good morning." Chris and Rachel walked into the living room.

"Hey you guys do know it's almost noon right?" Brooke smirked.

"Well its Saturday no one is expected to wake up before noon." Rachel smirked back. Lucas just eyed them suspiciously as they walked into the kitchen. He thought it was a little weird that they both woke up at the same time.

"Hey so is there anything going on between them?" Lucas asked.

"No, they're just friends." Brooke said while she was playing Brett.

"I don't know about that." Lucas just looked at them in the kitchen. The way Chris was looking at Rachel was the same way Nathan looked at Haley.

xxxxx

"Hey so how long do you think it'll take them to get together?" Chris just stared at them they looked like a family, even though Lucas just found out about Brett yesterday.

"What? They're not getting back together. Brooke said they're just friends." Rachel said.

"I don't know about that."

xxxxx

A couple of days later nothing much had changed Lucas was staying with Brooke so he could bond with Brett a little more. Brooke was taking a nap because earlier that day Lucas had asked her if he, Brett, and Brooke could go out into the city just to hang out. He didn't want to wake her up but Brett needed to be changed and Lucas hadn't changed his diaper before but there was a first time for everything but then he realized that he didn't know where Brooke left anything.

"Hey Luke you ok?" Chris asked.

"Uh yeah Brett just needs to be changed." Lucas turned to see Chris with his guitar in hand and a bag hanging from his shoulder. "Going somewhere?"

"Yeah Chris Keller's work here is done." Luke gave him a blank stare not understanding what he was talking about.

"So what you're just planning to leave?"

"Yeah it's just time. You know?"

"Well I just want to tell you man thanks for everything you did. You know standing up to Victoria and helping Brooke out and stuff." Lucas shrugged.

"So we're cool?"

"Yeah man." Lucas stuck his hand out Chris shook it. Lucas pretty much forgave Chris for all the crap he had done in the past. Chris had changed and there was no denying it, but he wasn't sure if it was cause of Rachel or Brooke.

"Hey do me a favor and tell Rachel…well just tell her I said bye." Chris looked like he wanted to say something else but turned around to leave.

"I will."

"Also don't screw things up with Brooke. Chris Keller is tired of picking up the pieces." Chris said with a smug face.

**Alright so I know a couple of you aren't happy that Chris is leaving but he'll be back in like two chapters.**

**Please review I'm going through a bit of a writers block.**

**onetreehillgirl066- Thanks for catching my mistake it was supposed to be he just hoped that Lucas wouldn't screw this up just like he had other times in  
their relationship. I was in a bit of a hurry to post it lol. But I hope you liked this chapter.**

**brookenlucas4eva03- Thanks for the review. I hope you liked the update.**

**TeamSophia-Thanks I loved your review. I love Chris too that's why I'm keeping him in the story. Sorry for jumping around in the last chapter I was in a hurry to post it up. But yeah Lucas and Brooke haven't talked for a while. And I took your advice about Chris and Rachel hint hint lol. Hope you like the chapter.**

**BLove13- Thanks for your review I loved it btw lol. Yeah I love Chris too he's so hilarious so I'm going to try to keep him in the story. Hope you liked the chapter please review.**

**Brucasfan23- Thanks for your review it was funny so I loved it lol. I hoped you liked it. It was heavy on the BL and Chris lol. Please review**

**Mosie1213- Thanks for the review so I know you loved the end of this chapter lol with Chris leaving. But I totally agree with you Victoria is a witch please review.**


	6. Do I?

**New chapter somewhat filler but next chapter will be better…hopefully lol it's really on what you guys say.**

A couple of weeks later nothing had changed. Brooke and Rachel were surprised that Chris hadn't returned, usually he would leave for a couple of days and would come back. Lucas was finishing his book up he ended up rewriting a couple of chapters and Lindsey loved it. He had spent the last couple of weeks bonding with Brett and Brooke, although he hadn't told Haley or Nathan or his Mom about him, but he wanted to introduce them in person. Brooke also found out that Peyton and Lucas had been broken for a while, so she didn't feel so bad. She spent the last couple of weeks trying to run the company by herself after she fired Victoria. Victoria said that Brooke would go running back to her after Brooke found out how difficult it was to run a company, but so far things had been running smoothly.

"Ok Luke we finally finished editing all we need now are your dedications which we need by the end of the week. And then we're all finished and you can return to Tree Hill." Lindsey smiled. She and Lucas had been civil to each other the last couple of weeks. Although he hadn't told her about Brett, but he felt it wasn't necessary since she was just his editor. He hadn't told her about seeing Brooke either but he didn't owe her an explanation since they were no longer engaged.

"Thanks Lindsey I'll get those dedications to you before I leave." Lucas started to get up.

"So I guess this is goodbye?" Lindsey had started to regret breaking off the engagement after she saw how much Lucas had changed. She was planning to tell him before he left New York.

"I guess so. Bye Lindsey. Thanks for everything, for believing in me, for everything." To Lucas this was a bittersweet goodbye. He had finally accepted that they weren't right for each other, but Lindsey still held a special place in his heart for believing in his book.

"Luke I was wondering if we could see each other one last time before you leave? How about Lunch?"

"Yeah sure how about Wednesday?" Lucas nodded.

"That's perfect. Bye."

"Bye Linds." Once Lucas called her that her stomach turned. He hadn't called her that since she broke off the engagement. She knew that was a sign that she still had a chance.

xxxxx

"Hey so I'm officially finished with the book." Lucas said as he walked into the loft.

"Oh my god that great Luke." Brooke said as she handed him Brett.

"Hey buddy. You miss me? Huh? You miss your dad." Brooke loved to watch them interact, she saw a side of Lucas that she thought had died with Keith. "Yeah all that's left are the dedications." Lucas was wondering if he should tell Brooke about having lunch with Lindsey. He hadn't even told her about their relationship, much less their engagement.

"Hey so I'm having lunch with Lindsey on Wednesday. Its sort of a goodbye lunch." He shrugged.

"That's nice." Brooke looked up from her sketches.

"Umm I actually have something to tell you." Lucas was worried that this was going to ruin the good streak between him and Brooke. "Me and Lindsey actually had a relationship before I came to New York."

"You and the editor huh? Kinky." Brooke chuckled.

"You're not mad about me not telling you?"

"No why would I? Its not like I expected you to be single all these years." Brooke shrugged. She wasn't upset that he hadn't told her they were obviously broken up considering he was over at her house 24/7.

"Oh well that's good. But there's still more."

"Oh god, don't tell me you have a kid with her too." Brooke feigned shock.

"No." Lucas chuckled. Leave it up to Brooke to make a serious situation a joke. "We were actually engaged." Brooke looked up from her sketches shocked.

"Oh wow. I'm sorry Lucas. Did things not work out?"

"No. But its ok we just weren't right for each other." Lucas shrugged. A couple of weeks ago he wouldn't have believed that but now he knew it was true.

"Wow how long ago you guys break up?" Brooke was hoping that they're break up had nothing to do with her and Brett.

"About a month and half before I came to New York, so it's been a while." Lucas shrugged.

"I'm sorry Luke." Brooke whispered.

"It's ok." Lucas shrugged. "What about you."

"What about me?"

"Have you been dating anyone?"

"I've dated but nothing serious." Brooke shrugs. "Nothing ever goes past the first date."

"It's ok Brooke none of them were the one." Lucas just stared at Brooke while she was still sketching. "You'll fall in love again Brooke."

"I don't know about that." Brooke chuckled. Lucas just looked at her confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know if I believe in love." Brooke stated. Lucas looked at her surprised. "Love is overrated." Brooke shrugged. "Look at how many people get divorced now in days. I think if I ever get married it'll be for safety, not love."

"How can you say you don't believe in love?" Lucas said surprised. He couldn't believe Brooke Davis was saying all these things. In highschool she always believed in fairy-tale endings.

"Love works out for some people but not for me." Brooke looked back down at her sketches. Lucas just sat there stumped that Brooke would even think that, he knew that if Brooke ever got married her husband would be lucky to have someone like her.

xxxxx

Nathan, Haley and Jamie sat in the kitchen eating breakfast. Nothing had changed for them. Peyton still hung out at there house a lot, but for the last couple of weeks they had avoided the subject of Lucas. But since Lucas would eventually come home they knew that it was a matter of time before their lives were turned upside down.

"Daddy can we go to the rivercourt today?" Jamie asked excitedly.

"Sure bud I don't see why not." Nathan loved playing basketball with Jamie. "Go get ready though." Jamie ran to his room. "So what are you doing today?"

"I'm gonna try to get some papers graded, clean up a little bit."

"I was thinking we haven't had any alone time lately. How bout we call my mom, see if she can baby-sit and I take you on a date." Nathan smirked.

"I would love that." Haley said as she kissed Nathan passionately. Nathan started deepening the kiss forgetting that Jamie could walk down any second. Nathan picked her up and started walking towards their bedroom and closed the door behind them. Nathan started sucking lightly on her neck as Haley struggled to remove his shirt.

"Hales! Nate!" Peyton yelled.

"Ugh!" Nathan moaned. "Get rid of her Hales." Nathan started sucking on her neck.

"I will." Haley kissed Nathan and walked out.

"Hey Peyton we're kin-"

"Is Nathan here I need to talk to the both of you." Peyton said.

"Uhh actually this isn't a good time Peyton we're kinda busy." Haley said trying to get rid of Peyton as soon as possible. But Peyton didn't move she was determined to talk to Haley.

"Haley it's really important."

"Ok talk." Haley was starting to get annoyed with Peyton she really did have bad timing.

"Is Nathan around? He's probably going to want to hear this." Now Haley was really starting to get irritated.

"I don't know Peyton. He's kinda busy."

"It's important Haley." Haley just sighed and started to walk into her room.

"Hey babe." Nathan started to kiss her. Haley wanted to deepen the kiss but she remembered that Peyton was in the living room waiting for them so she pulled away which surprised Nathan. "Are you ok?"

"Sorry babe but Peyton is out there."

"What! I thought you were gonna get rid of her."

"I tried but she said it was important." Haley shrugged. Nathan just groaned and started putting his shirt on.

"She better have won the lottery and give us half if it's this important." Nathan complained.

"So Peyton what's up?" Haley said.

"So I went to go see my dad last week, and I was talking to him about my job in L.A. and he told me I should open my own record label!" Peyton said excitedly. Haley and Nathan just sat there dumbfounded wondering why that was so important.

"Ok..?" Haley hoped Peyton didn't interrupt her and Nathan just for that.

"Well I started thinking about it and he's right!" Haley and Nathan were truly happy for her but they wondered why this couldn't wait for another day.

"That's great Peyton." Haley said.

"Yeah that really is Peyton." Nathan said. Haley looked over and saw the annoyance in Nathan's eyes.

"Yeah my dad said he would be willing to invest. It's not much but I mean it's still a good start."

"Wow so what now?" Haley didn't want to be mean so she faked interest.

"I don't know I need to scout some places out. But I was actually thinking can either of you give me Lucas' number?"

"Why?" Nathan asked.

"I was actually thinking about using the office by Tric. So I was hoping to call and ask him."

"I'll call him and ask him and get back to you." Nathan said. Peyton wanted to call him and ask him herself, she saw this as the perfect opportunity to talk to Lucas.

"No it's ok Nate I don't want to bother you guys." _Too late_ Nathan thought.

"No it's fine I was gonna call him anyway to see how he was doing." Nathan knew what Peyton was doing. Nathan wanted to at least tell Lucas that Peyton was back in town.

"Are you sure I mean I can do it."

"No it's cool I'll do it."

"No seriously Nate I ca-"

"Sorry Peyt I gotta go I promised Jamie that I would take him to the rivercourt. But don't worry Peyton I won't forget to ask him." Nathan said as he walked out leaving a dumbfounded Peyton.

xxxxx

"Hey Brooke so since the book is done I was thinking about going back to Tree Hill." Lucas said. Brooke just sat there surprised that he was leaving. Brett had gotten so attached to Lucas. She also had to admit that she would miss him. She had gotten use to him being around.

"Oh." Brooke couldn't think of anything else to say.

"And I was thinking that you and Brett should come with me." Brooke was even more surprised she never really thought about going back to Tree Hill. "Maybe even Rachel could come." He knew that if Brooke was going to Tree Hill that Rachel would have to go too, they had become inseparable over the years.

"I don't know Lucas. I still have C/B to run. People already think I'm not capable of running a business by myself. And going to Tree Hill won't help."

"Why don't you open one in Tree Hill? Come on Brooke you know you wanna go back." Lucas begged. Brooke had to admit that she did wanna see Haley and Nathan. She also wondered how Jamie was doing, Lucas talked about him all the time.

"Alright why not." Brooke shrugged.

"Seriously?" When Brooke nodded her head Lucas jumped up and gave her hug. He was excited that his bestfriend and brother would meet his son. The hug lasted longer then they both expected, but neither wanted to let go. Pretty soon Lucas let her go but stood right front of her.

"Thanks." He whispered.

"Umm so opening a store in Tree Hill that's actually not a bad idea. I'm gonna look into it." Brooke said as she started to walk away.

xxxxx

A couple of days later Brooke and Lucas were packing for Tree Hill they were leaving on Thursday and today it was Tuesday. But with Brooke's closet Lucas thought that it would take at least a week for Brooke to pack.

"Brooke we're only allowed to take 1 piece of luggage per person." Lucas chuckled. Brooke already had 3 pieces of luggage packed and he knew that she had at least half of her closet left, and that wasn't counting her shoes.

"What!? Since when did they make that stupid rule!?" Lucas just laughed. He loved how she made a drama out of everything.

"I actually have something for you Brooke." Lucas handed her a package.

"A present?" She started opening it and saw a book. "A book? Lucas didn't you learn anything in highschool?" Brooke groaned which caused Lucas to laugh. "Girls like jewelry better." Brooke chuckled.

"It's the book I wrote."

"What?" Brooke whispered.

"Yeah this is the first copy."

"Wow." Brooke ran her fingers over the cover.

"Open it to the first page." Lucas whispered. Brooke opened it and started reading the dedication out loud.

"To all the lost souls who forgot to believe in the immensity of love." Brooke's eyes were tearing up by the time she finished. Lucas hoped she remembered what she had told him a couple of days before.

"Thank you." Brooke whispered as she gave him a hug.

"Thank you." Lucas said. "You helped me finish the book. You and Brett at least." He chuckled. "I actually wrote one of Lindsey's and the other editors favorite while I was here." Lucas started turning the pages to one of the highlighted sentences. Brooke started to read it out loud.

"It was more than just a comet because of what it brought to his life: direction, beauty, meaning. There are many who couldn't understand, and sometimes he walked among them. But even in his darkest hours, he knew in his heart that someday it would return to him, and his world would be whole again... And his belief in God and love and art would be re-awakened in his heart." Brooke was surprised at what she read. She couldn't believe that Lucas could write something so deep. Actually she could believe that, Lucas had always had a way with words.

"Thank you." Brooke whispered as she hugged him again.

"Hey I'm hungry lets go eat." Rachel said as she walked into the room. "Should I come back later." Rachel joked.

"Shut up. You hungry?" Brooke asked Lucas.

"Yeah I'll go get Brett." Lucas walked out. Rachel just kinked her eyebrow as she looked at Brooke.

"What?"

"You know what." Rachel smirked.

"Me and Lucas are just friends."

"Sure."

"We are."

"Whatever you say." Rachel shrugged.

"Shut up." Brooke said as she walked out.

xxxxx

"Before the food comes i'm going to the restroom." Brooke said as she stood up.

"I'll go with you." Brooke and Rachel stood up and walked away.

"Hey Brett you thirsty." Lucas started giving Brett some of his water. Brett started banging against the table babbling. "Can you say ball, say ball." Lucas said slowly. He and Brooke had been trying to get him to say ball. They started with dad, but he said that fairly quickly. He started babbling again. "Say ball come on. Ball." He started babbling again.

"Ba"

"Yeah Brett Ball."

"Ba." Brett repeated. Lucas picked him up and sat him on the table in front of him.

"Lucas." Lucas turned around to see Lindsey standing two feet from him.

"Lindsey hey." Lucas tensed up he still hadn't told Lindsey about Brooke or Brett.

"Hey Luke who's this." Lindsey pointed towards Brett.

"This is Brett." Lucas said as Lindsey sat in one of the empty seats.

"Hey little guy." Lindsey started playing with Brett. "So are you baby-sitting?"

"Umm not really." Lucas shook his head. Brooke and Rachel started walking towards the table.

"Hi." Brooke said to Lindsey.

"Oh sorry were you eating lunch with them." Lindsey questioned Lucas.

"No its ok hi I'm Brooke Davis." Lindsey immediately recognized her.

"Brooke Davis from C/B?"

"Yeah." Lucas was surprised she hadn't recognized Brooke from his book.

"Oh my god I love your clothes." Lindsey gushed.

"Thank you." Brooke blushed.

"Hi I'm Rachel."

"Oh sorry I'm Lindsey Strauss."

"Lucas' editor?" Brooke questioned.

"Yeah. Lucas you never told me you knew Brooke Davis." Lucas was about to answer but then a lightbulb went off in Lindsey's head. "Oh my god, are you Brooke Davis from Lucas' book?"

"Yeah." Lindsey sat there shocked. She didn't know that Lucas and Brooke still kept in touch. Brett began to cry snapping Lindsey out of her thoughts.

"Baby are you ok what's the matter?" Brooke said as she took Brett out of Lucas' hands.

"Oh is he yours?"

"Yeah."

"He's cute."

"Thanks he got that from his dad." Brooke smirked at Lucas, as Lucas smiled back. Luckily for Lucas that Lindsey didn't notice them.

"What's his name?"

"Nathan Brett Scott. But we just call him Brett." Lindsey was shocked. She noticed that Brett and Lucas shared the same last name. Lucas just looked at Lindsey while she stared at him.

"Lindsey…"

"Umm so I'll let you guys finish up your lunch. I'll see you tomorrow Lucas. Nice to meet you Brooke, Rachel." Lindsey walked away. Lucas immediately felt guilty about the way Lindsey found out about Brett. He wasn't planning on telling her but he didn't want to her to find out like this.

xxxxx

_Ring Ring_

"Hello."

"Luke hey its Nate."

"Hey man what up?"

"Nothing much, I was just wondering when you were coming back. You know your god-son misses you."

"I miss him too. But good news I finished the book and I'm coming back on Thursday."

"Wow that's great. Haley's been missing you like crazy."

"Good news Brooke's coming too."

"What?! Brooke!? Since when have you been talking to Brooke?"

"For a while now." Lucas forgot that he hadn't told Nathan that he had been talking to Brooke. "Did I forget to mention that." Lucas joked.

"Uh yeah!"

"Sorry, but either way Brooke is coming with me."

"Are you guys together or something?" Nathan knew that Lucas had been in New York for about a month and a half now so he wouldn't be surprised if they were together.

"What! No! We're just friends."

"Yeah right." Nathan scoffed. "When have Lucas Scott and Brooke Davis ever just been friends."

"Whatever. Believe what you want to believe."

"I will man don't worry. Well I have to go so we'll be expecting you and Brooke on Thursday. Bye."

"Bye."

"Hales you won't believe what Lucas just told me."

"What?"

"He's coming back back on Thursday."

"What that's great." Haley smiled Jamie had been missing his Uncle Luke.

"Brooke's coming with him."

"What! Since when has he been talking to Brooke?"

"For awhile apparently."

"Wow are they back together?"

"He says no. But they will be."

"I hope so." Haley whispered.

"Ha!"

"Ha what?"

"Remember when Peyton came back. I asked you who you wanted Lucas to be with and you gave me some lame-ass excuse about his heart."

"Whatever. Admit it you want Brooke and Lucas together too." Haley shrugged.

"That's never been secret." Nathan shrugged back.

"Anyway the only thing that worries me is Peyton."

"Crap I forgot about her."

"Does he know that she's back in town?"

"No I was going to tell him but then he told me about Brooke and I forgot. He's coming back on Thursday so he'll find out eventually."

"Yeah then all hell breaks loose." Haley said as she walked away.

xxxxx

**Not too much happened but I needed to get them back to Tree Hill. Hope you liked the update if you guys have any suggestion please tell me and I'll try to use them eventually. Btw I have another story called unfaithful you should read it. The summary is in the first chapter.**

**Oh also**** I started school so updates will come on weekends only. Considering that'll be the only time I have to update. I'll try to update every weekend but no promises.**

**Please review. They inspire me to write more.**

**TeamSophia-So I loved your review, I always do lol. But don't worry Chris will be back either next chapter or the one after but he'll be back. In the next couple of chapters you'll see why I made him and Lucas friends. Not to much Brucas/Brett bonding but there was some sorry. So hoped you like the update. Please review.**

**TeamxxBrucasxx- Thanks for the review. I agree with you he was an ass but he's hilarious so I love him. I hope you noticed that Brucas is getting closer. I'm still building up to their relationship thought. But I hoped you liked the update. Please review.**

**tanya2byour21- Thanks for your review. Chris truly does care about Brooke Brett and Rachel. He's been living with them for almost 2 years so they've become close. Haha I was about to make someone slap Victoria but I decided against it lol. I hope you like the update. Please review.**

**shonnia- Thanks for the review. Yeah everyone wants Chris to come back. But he will don't worry probably next chapter if not the one after it, but he'll be back. I actually like Chris so I'm trying to make him decent. I hope you like the update. Please review.**

**Brucasfan23- Loved your review lol. I love Chris too I think he should come back too he's hilarious. Yeah I didn't want Lucas to go crazy when he found out about Brett, cause that's not what the fic is about its about Brucas getting back together you know? I hope you noticed that they're getting closer, I'm still going to build up to their relationship though. But the Brucas lovin will come soon lol. Hope you like the update. Please review.**

**othfan326- Thanks for reviewing for both chapters lol. Yeah Victoria is evil at least that's what I got from the show lol. I hope you noticed that Brucas got closer in this chapter. But I'm still going to build up their relationship a bit more. I hope I cleared up some stuff. But Lucas and Lindsey are not together, they broke up because she felt that he was still love with Peyton. Hope you like the update. Please review.**

**brookenlucas4eva03- Thanks for the review. Hope you liked the update. Please review.**

**Mosie1213- Thanks for the review. I loved it lol. I'm happy you don't mind Chris cause he will be back eventually. I was hoping that you would like Chris and Rachel together, I wanted to see peoples reactions lol. Hope you liked the update. Please review.**


	7. Chapter 7

"Ugh I'm not even close to done packing. And we're leaving tomorrow!" Rachel stuffed some more clothes into her luggage.

"I'm surprised you're even going I thought you said you were never going back."

"Well since I already missed the Brooke vs. Victoria showdown, I would rather not miss any drama and let's face it Tree Hill is drama central."

"Haha that it is. But I actually hope there's no drama this time."

"You're not serious. You really think there's gonna be no drama? Come on, once Saint Haley finds out about Brett there's gonna be some hell to pay."

"Ok your right about that." Brooke shrugged. "But _after that_ lets hope there's no drama." Brooke chuckled.

"Damn you might be right about that." Brooke gave Rachel a questioning glance. "Peyton's not there." Rachel shrugged. Brooke just rolled her eyes. Rachel never hid her feelings about Peyton especially after Brooke and Lucas' second breakup.

"Be nice."

"Come on Brooke. Admit it, if Peyton found out Lucas had a kid with anyone else then her she would freak. Especially if it was with you."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Peyton wants what she can't have. Haven't you ever noticed that when Peyton can have Lucas she doesn't want him, and whenever you have Lucas she wants him? Once she founds out you and Lucas have a kid she's gonna want him." Rachel shrugged.

"Whatever that is not true."

"Think about it. Junior year: Lucas kisses Peyton; Peyton freaks. You date Lucas; Peyton wants Lucas. You break up with Lucas; Peyton doesn't want him. You date Lucas; Peyton wants Lucas. Lucas asks Peyton to marry him; Peyton says no. Do you see a trend?"

"Wait how do you know that Lucas asked Peyton to marry him?"

"What can I say; when Lucas tells you something, make sure he doesn't tell you in the living room." Rachel shrugged. Brooke just hit her with her pillow.

xxxxx

Lindsey was sitting at the table waiting for Lucas, who was ten minutes late. If she had to guess it would be either because of Brooke Davis or Nathan Scott. Lindsey laughed bitterly. How could she not know her fiancée had a son…a son with Brooke Davis! When she broke off the engagement she thought it was because Peyton was still in his heart, but instead it was Brooke Davis. But maybe, just maybe she was jumping to conclusions. It's not like Scott wasn't a common name. And Brooke must've been good friends to name him after Nathan. But the chance of any of this being true was slim to none.

"Hey Lindsey." Lucas said knocking her out of her thoughts.

"Hey Luke." She stood up to give him a hug. God she loved how he smelled.

"Sorry for being late." Lucas said pulling away from the hug.

"Its ok I haven't been here long."

"How've you been?" Lucas said as he looked at the menu.

"Uh I've been better. What about you?" Lucas smiled at the thought of Brooke and Brett, and Lindsey noticed.

"Good. Really good."

"Don't hide your excitement." Lindsey said sarcastically and somewhat bitterly. Lucas chuckled at her statement knowing that he couldn't hide his happiness. "Let me guess this has something to do with Brooke Davis?" Lindsey eyed him. He just stayed quiet trying to avoid her next question. "Are you guys back together?" Lindsey waited for an answer but Lucas didn't even look up from the menu. "I'm not gonna be mad if you guys are we've been broken up for over a month and a half." Again she waited for an answer and finally Lucas looked up from the menu.

"No we're not going out."

"What about Nathan?" Lucas looked up confused what would his brother have to do with this?

"What _about_ Nathan?"

"Is he yours?" Lucas felt stupid of course she was talking about Brett. But he stayed quiet he wasn't sure how to answer. A part of him wanted to lie, but he knew lying always got him into sticky situations.

"Yes." Lindsey's eyes filled with tears.

"And you didn't feel the need to tell your fiancée."

"Ex-fiancée." Lucas corrected.

"Don't forget we were engaged Lucas. When were you planning to tell me you had a son? What after the wedding were you planning to say 'Hey by the way I have a 1 year old son with Brooke Davis.'" Lindsey said bitterly. Lucas didn't want to tell her he didn't know about Brett up until about a month ago. He didn't want Lindsey to think Brooke was a bad person. But he wasn't sure what to do.

"Lindsey I wasn't in his life back then." Lindsey gave him a confused glance. "It's complicated but it's not like I kept it from you on purpose. But I'm in his life now." Lindsey just nodded her head not wanting to go too much into details. She planned to tell him that she regretted breaking off the engagement, but she wanted to see how Lucas felt before she said anything.

xxxxx

Lindsey was sitting in her car with tears running down her face. Lucas was in love with Brooke Davis. He didn't come out and say it, but she knew. The way his face lit up when he talked about her. The way he described her personality. The way he described how beautiful she was inside, and out. She hated it; he spent most of their lunch talking about her. He loved her, he probably never stopped. Which meant that their relationship was a lie. She didn't want to believe that, she didn't want to think that when he held her that he was probably imagining Brooke. That when he kissed her that he was imaging Brooke's lips. She had never seen him that carefree and happy. She was sure that if he died right now he would probably die the happiest person in the world. And she was going to have to accept that she wasn't the reason for that.

xxxxx

Lucas walked into the loft happy as could be. His life was perfect he had a son, and he was returning home with his family. He had to admit that Brooke had something to do with his happiness. Her personality easily lit up any room she walked into. He walked into Brett's room looking for him or Brooke. He knocked on Brooke's door, but he didn't receive an answer. He carefully opened the door and saw Brooke and Brett on the bed sleeping. He smiled she was probably worn out from packing. He just looked at them and fell in love with the scene. He had a son and he had Brooke in his life. God she was beautiful, he could get used to seeing this everyday. He carefully tiptoed over to the side of the bed Brooke was laying on and laid next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and tried to fall asleep. It was proving rather difficult though because every time he took a deep breath he could smell Brooke's perfume. He had to fight the urge to kiss her. He slowly fell to sleep with Brooke etched into his mind.

xxxxx

Brooke slowly woke up. She had the best sleep she had in months. She was worn out from packing all day for her and Brett, but she was finally done. She moved slowly so not to wake Brett and realized that she had an arm wrapped around her waist. She opened her eyes and saw Lucas. She was surprised to say the least but oddly enough she felt perfect. She looked at him and saw the stubble coming out; he looked more handsome since she last remembered. She took a deep breath in and could easily smell his cologne. She kept taking deep breaths trying to memorize the smell. She felt him move and she opened her eyes and saw him looking down at her. What surprised her was that his face was moving closer to her and pretty soon his lips touched hers. She probably should've fought the kiss but she was actually kissing him back. Pretty soon the kiss got intense and Brooke moved her hands to his face to feel the stubble. Lucas moved his body closer to her to get more comfortable. Brooke had to admit that this was the best kiss she had, had in years.

xxxxx

Lucas pulled Brooke closer trying to get her as close to him as possible never wanting to let go. He was surprised at what was happening. He had to admit that he initiated the kiss, but he thought he was dreaming when he saw Brooke. He woke up and saw her there and he saw how beautiful she was and he did the only thing he thought he could do and he kissed her. He finally realized that it wasn't a dream when she moved her hands to his face. He was actually happy that it wasn't a dream. He had been wanting to do kiss her since he had gotten to New York and he had to admit that, that kiss was better than he ever could've imagined. He started running his hand up and down her side relishing the feel of her skin. He could feel her shiver under his touch. She moved her hands down from his face to his arms and started to feel his bicep. He knew that soon air would become an issue and that they would have to deal with the consequences of the kiss but he wanted to enjoy this moment. When he felt her pull away he knew that the consequences would come sooner then later.

xxxxx

Brooke moved her hands from his face to his arm. She was squirming under his touch. He kept moving his hands up and down her sides. She knew pretty soon they would have to remove clothing if he kept doing that. She started to move her hands from his bicep to his abs, but suddenly felt a little fist hit her in the back. That's when she remembered that Brett was right next them. She pulled away and looked over her shoulder and saw Brett smiling at them. She chuckled at the sight of the happiness on their son's face it was as if he knew his parents were finally working out.

"I guess someone wanted some attention." Lucas chuckled.

"Yeah you know your son always wanting to be the center of attention."

"Just like his mom."

"Hey!" Brooke hit on the forehead.

"OW!" Lucas rubbed his forehead.

"Stop being such a baby."

"I'm not a baby you hit pretty hard!"

"I'm sorry." She sighed. She kissed him on the forehead. "Better?"

"Yeah." Lucas whispered. Brooke looked at the time and realized that Brett was probably was hungry.

"I guess I should feed him. Which means you have to get off me." She playfully pushed him off.

"Jeez thanks." He joked.

"Well it's kinda hard to get up when you're on me."

"You didn't complain in high school." Lucas smirked.

"Hey!" Brooke hit on the forehead again.

"Ow!" Lucas rolled off her and held his forehead.

"You deserved that." Brooke picked up Brett and walked out of the room. Lucas just stayed behind and thought about everything that had just happened.

xxxxx

It was midnight and Brooke was listening to Lucas' heartbeat. They ended up in the same bed because Brett was crying for Lucas. He eventually fell asleep and they moved him to his crib, but for some reason they were still sleeping in the same bed. Lucas holding Brooke and Brooke curled up in his chest. One would think that after the day's events that things would be awkward between the two of them but it was as if the pieces had finally fallen into place.

"I can hear your heartbeat." Brooke whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah it's actually pretty soothing." They were in a silence, but not an awkward silence it was as if they didn't need any words between them to understand each other. Lucas knew Brooke on a level that she was sure no one else knew. He understood her fears, her insecurities, but most of all he knew when she needed to be held and tonight was one of those nights.

"You know Brooke I think we need to talk about what happened today." Lucas said referring to the kiss.

"We do?"

"Don't we?" Lucas asked confused.

"I don't think so." Brooke whispered. "I don't want to jinx it." She said looking at him in the eyes. Lucas wanted to know where they stood. He wasn't sure if they were friends or if they were more. "I don't think we need a definition." Brooke said as if reading his mind.

"Ok if that's what you want." Lucas said. He suddenly felt the need to kiss her and on cue Brooke moved closer to Lucas. Lucas finally closed the gap between them. It wasn't rushed but sweet and slow. They finally broke apart and just stared at each other.

"We should probably go to sleep. We have an early flight tomorrow."

"Yeah I'm actually pretty nervous."

"Why?"

"Nate and Haley are gonna hate me." Her voice cracked.

"They're not gonna hate you." Lucas soothed. But she just gave him a skeptical look. "Nate isn't even gonna hear any words after Brett's first name." Brooke chuckled. "And Haley won't hate you; I don't hate you so she won't hate you."

"How are you so sure?"

"Believe me they could never hate you. Remember senior year?"

"What about it?"

"Well remember when you slept with Chris?" Brooke cringed when he brought up that incident. "I tried so hard to hate you. I wanted to hate you so much, but I couldn't. Every time I saw you all that anger flew out the window. So _believe me_ its impossible to hate you." Lucas smiled at her. She had to admit somehow he made her feel better.

"Thank you."

"Anything for you. Now go to sleep we have to wake up extra early to go to the airport."

xxxxx

"Brooke lets go we're supposed to be there already!" Lucas yelled.

"I'm going!" Brooke yelled back. Lucas just chuckled, he probably should've been nervous but he told Brooke the flight took off an hour before the actual take off.

"Ok I'm ready to go."

"Yeah but we were supposed to be there 20 minutes ago and with traffic were not gonna get there in time." Rachel sighed.

"No we're good on time" Lucas said as he started taking the luggage into the elevator.

"How do you figure if we were supposed to be there in…" Rachel looked at her watch. "30 minutes?" Rachel said while she gave Brooke an annoyed glare.

"Hey it's not my fault that I couldn't remember which bag I put my mascara in." Brooke defended.

"Its ok we're not supposed to be there for another hour and a half."

"What! You lied to me!" Brooke yelled.

"It's a good thing too! We were supposed to be there 30 minutes ago." Lucas defended.

"Whatever you're lucky I'm not really mad." Brooke shrugged.

"Yeah only cause she got some last night." Rachel chuckled. Brooke widened her eyes in disbelief.

"We didn't sleep together last night!"

"Whatever, I saw you two walking out of the same room this morning."

"We didn't have sex last night. Tell her we didn't have sex last night." Brooke looked over at Lucas.

"We didn't have sex last night…not yet anyway." Lucas smirked. Brooke hit him on the chest.

"Hey!" Brooke yelled.

"Kidding." Lucas smirked. Rachel just laughed at Brooke.

xxxxx

Lucas, Brooke, Rachel, and Brett were getting off the plane. The saw Nathan and Haley and waved. Haley looked at Brooke and noticed that she was carrying a little boy. Brooke got butterflies in her stomach. All three had decided on a story to tell Nathan and Haley about Brett. They decided that they would say that Brett was just Brooke's. Then when they got home they would tell the truth, none of them wanted a scene in the middle of the airport.

"Brooke oh my god I've my missed you!" Haley ran over to Brooke and gave her a half-hug to not squish the baby in between them. "Who's this?"

"He's my son, Brett."

"Brooke you have a son!" Haley said in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell me?!" Haley demanded.

"I wanted to tell you Haley but things have been so hectic lately and I wanted you to meet him in person." Brooke said hoping it would end the scene that Haley was making.

"Brooke I thought I was your best friend?! How could you not tell me?!" Haley said making some people turn their heads.

"Haley I really wanted to tell you. But it never seemed like the right time I was busy or you were busy. I really am sorry Haley." Brooke said her eyes filling with tears. If Haley acted like this after finding out about Brett, Brooke could only imagine what she would say about Lucas being the father.

"Brooke I wouldn't have cared when you told me! You should've told me when you found out you were pregnant!" With every one of Haley's words more and more heads turned.

"Haley-"

"Haley lets not do this here." Lucas interrupted.

"Yeah Hales we'll talk about this at home." Nathan tried to calm down Haley.

xxxxx

They were sitting in the car in an awkward silence. Haley hadn't said anything since they had left the airport.

"You should've told me." Haley stated.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say."

"Brooke it just hurts that you think you can't trust me." Haley's eyes filled with tears.

"I'm sorry." Brooke whispered as they reached the house. Haley walked out of the car and slammed the door behind her and walked to the backyard.

"Can you get Brett out I need to talk to her." Lucas just nodded his head. Brooke walked into the backyard and just stood next to Haley staring at the swimming pool.

"I'm sorry."

"I know you are. But that doesn't change anything."

"What can?" Brooke said facing Haley.

"I want you to trust me Brooke. I want you to be able to tell me anything. I want us to be best friends again." Brooke just stayed silent. "Can we go back to what we were like in high school?" Brooke hugged Haley and just nodded. Both of them were crying by now.

"I really am sorry."

"I know. Let's go inside before they think we killed each other." Haley chuckled as she wiped her eyes. They both walked inside and Lucas immediately went to Brooke's side.

"You ok?" He said as he eyed her.

"Yeah." She whispered.

"You know we don't have to tell them right now, we can wait."

"I actually think right now would be best."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Ok." He took a deep breath suddenly getting nervous.

"Umm guys we actually have something we need to tell you." Lucas said.

"It's actually about Brett."

"What about Brett?" Haley asked suddenly getting nervous.

"Uhh Haley Brett's full name is Nathan Brett Scott." Brooke said trying to get them to understand. Haley just sat there dumbfounded. She wasn't sure if she understood what they were trying to say.

"Please tell me that's a coincidence." Haley said with pleading eyes.

"Haley what I'm trying to say is that Brett is Lucas' son." Brooke said nervously.

"What?" Haley said as if she didn't hear right.

"He's my son Haley."

"Dude you have a son and you didn't tell us?" Nathan said in disbelief.

"Don't blame Lucas he didn't exactly know." Brooke said shamefully.

"What!" Haley said.

"You kept his son from him." Nathan said getting pissed.

"Nate-"

"No did you?" Nathan said interrupting Lucas.

"Yes." Brooke whispered. Nathan just sighed trying not to yell at Brooke.

"Nathan-"

"No Brooke its one thing to keep it from us, but his own father?!" Nathan just paced the kitchen trying not to explode more on Brooke. He finally decided that he needed some air and walked out.

"Nate!" Lucas yelled but Nathan just kept walking. "I'll talk to him." Lucas ran after him.

"Haley." Brooke whispered. Haley just sat there dumbfounded.

"You kept his son from him?" Haley asked, but more to herself then Brooke.

"Haley-"

"Lucas has a son and you didn't tell him?" Haley said still talking to herself.

"Haley-" Haley put her hand up to stop Brooke; she needed to process everything that had just happened.

"Why would you keep his son from him?"

"Haley I was so confused and I thought he was still with Peyton and I didn't want to ruin what he had-"

"Why didn't you ask Brooke I would've been able to tell you that they weren't together anymore."

"I don't know Haley. I was planning to tell him, but…"

"But what?"

"I got scared." She whispered.

"Scared of what? Scared that Lucas was actually gonna get a chance to be a father? Scared that he was gonna do the right thing and actually help you with everything?"

"No scared that he was gonna hate me for ruining his relationship with Peyton. Scared that he wasn't gonna want Brett." Haley took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.

"What did Lucas say when you told him?" Brooke began to explain everything that happened that night from Victoria to Chris standing up for Luke to Brooke firing Victoria. "He said all that?" Haley asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I was surprised too; I thought he was going to go crazy."

"Look this is between you and Lucas…maybe…maybe I shouldn't be getting in the middle. If he isn't mad I don't see any reason why I should be." Haley sighed.

"Thanks Haley." Brooke whispered.

"Brooke just no more secrets."

"No more secrets." Brooke agreed.

"So anything else I might need to know?"

"I've lived with Chris the last year and a half." Brooke shrugged.

xxxxx

Lucas chased Nathan and found him leaning on his car in front of the house.

"How could she keep her kid from you?!" Nathan yelled frustrated. Lucas didn't know how to respond he thought Haley was going to be mad but he didn't think Nathan would take it like this.

"Don't be so hard on her."

"What?! You're not serious!" Nathan looked at Lucas and saw that he was actually serious. "How could you not be mad?! She kept your kid from you! I would be pissed if Haley ever kept Jamie from me."

"Dude believe me the minute you would've held Jamie all that anger would've vanished."

"But how could she do that?! She took away your son…my nephew!"

"Nate I've already forgiven her."

"How?!" Lucas shrugged not knowing how to respond.

"I was mad, but…I don't know I just couldn't hold on to that anger. I wanted to be mad, I wanted to hate her but I couldn't."

"Why not she sure as hell deserves it." Nathan said finally calming down.

"She probably does but being angry doesn't change the past. It doesn't bring back the last year, all it does is make things worse and unfortunately Brett would be the only one that suffers; and I don't want that. Look so how about we go inside and you can meet your nephew?" Nathan took a deep breath and calmed down.

"Alright." They walked inside and saw Haley cooing at Brett. Brooke looked up at Nathan and gave him a remorseful look. Nathan just nodded his head as a sign he forgave her.

"So I guess I'm ready to meet my nephew." Haley walked over to Nathan and handed him Brett.

"Say hi to Nathan Brett Scott." Brooke whispered.

"Hey buddy you know you got quite a name to live up too." He chuckled. "I'm your Uncle Nate. I'm the one that's actually gonna teach you a decent game of basketball." He chuckled.

"He looks just like you Luke." Haley whispered as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Nah I don't think so he actually looks handsome like his Uncle."

"Whatever." Lucas rolled his eyes.

"So I guess Jamie finally gets a cousin. Where is my god-son anyway?"

"I got him right here." Rachel walked in with Jamie.

"Please don't corrupt my son Rachel." Haley said.

"We were just having some bonding time." Rachel shrugged. "Tree Hill has gotten boring. I was hoping for some drama and nothing happened. Nobody got in a fight no bitch slaps no nothing." Haley frowned at Rachel's choice of words and signaled that Jamie was in the room. "Oh sorry kid don't say bitch unless you're talking about goldilocks." Rachel chuckled.

"Rachel!" Brooke yelled.

"Chill I was just kidding."

"Jamie come over here, I want you to meet someone." Nathan signaled him over.

"Who is that daddy?"

"This is your cousin Jamie." Lucas carried him and sat right next to Nathan.

"What's his name?" Jamie started running his fingers through Brett's hair.

"Nathan Brett Scott." Brooke said.

"Daddy he has your name!" Jamie exclaimed.

"Yeah you know how your middle name is Lucas well I thought it would be nice to name him Nathan." Brooke explained.

"Is he your baby?"

"Yeah and he's my son too."

"You have a son!"

"Yeah Brooke and I do."

"Wow! So can I carry him?"

"Not yet buddy but how about later when we're on the couch or something?" Nathan said carefully so not to upset Jamie.

"I guess…"

"Hey Jamie cheer up now you have a little cousin you can play with."

"Congratulations big bro."

"Thanks."

"I can't believe we both have families now Luke." Nathan said. "All you're missing is a wife now."

"Yeah I guess I am." Lucas said smiling at Brooke. Brooke smiled back and he winked at her.

xxxxx

**_Ok so I know I took forever to put the chapter up but school has been kicking my butt. Also I know that Brucas started kinda fast but I was getting bored with them being apart. So please review they help me update faster._**


	8. Chapter 8

Brooke got up and took her shirt off, and laid back down on the bed on Lucas' arms. Lucas just looked at her. He brushed a couple of stray hairs out of her face. As he looked at her he wondered how he could've been away from her for so long. He knew he must have been in denial of his feelings for the past couple of years. Now he couldn't even be away from her for more then an hour. If by chance he was away from her he needed to call her and just hear her voice, even if it was just her voicemail. The sound of her raspy voice made him feel better. It sounded weird but he honestly couldn't imagine life without her anymore.

"You ok?" Lucas whispered.

"Yeah I was just a little hot." Brooke said as she moved a bit to get comfortable. As Lucas looked at her in her white tank top, he noticed how great she looked. If you looked at her you couldn't tell she had, had a baby.

"How was it?" Brooke gave him a confused look. "The birth I mean." Brooke winced for a moment regretting that she ever kept Lucas from Brett. But then realized the he said it out of curiosity not anger. But she still didn't want to talk about the birth. She didn't want to tell him that the minute she saw Brett she fell in love with him, that he was possibly the cutest baby ever, that she loved his icy blue eyes. But she knew she owed him that much.

"It was horrible!" I'm pretty sure I broke Rachel's hand!" Brooke chuckled. "And I was yelling at Chris. I even threw a remote control at his head! I mean believe me, that wasn't the happiest moment of my life!" Lucas just chuckled at her, he could she was avoiding the answer to his question.

"You can tell me the truth Brooke." Lucas whispered. "I'm not angry. I'm just…curious." Brooke looked into his eyes and knew he was telling the truth. She took a deep breath before continuing.

"Follow me." Brooke got up and opened one of her suitcases and pulled out a DVD, and handed it to Lucas. "A couple of days before I went into labor Chris convinced me take a video of Brett's birth. I was against the idea but we finally agreed that we would get a video of everything except the actual…delivery." Brooke chuckled.

"Is this it?"

"That's the one." Lucas popped the DVD into the DVD player and sat down next to Brooke. He felt his palms get sweaty from his nervousness.

"Have you ever watched it?"

"No the DVD was more for you." Lucas looked over at Brooke and saw her eyes were glossed over.

"Get the camera out of my face!" Brooke's voice on the TV got Lucas' attention.

"Aren't pregnant women supposed to be happy they're having a kid?" Chris asked.

"I just want him out of me!" Brooke cried. Rachel went over to Brooke's side and motioned for Chris to leave Brooke alone.

"What?" Rachel got mad and threw a pillow at Chris' head. "Ow!" Lucas looked over at Brooke; he could tell that she remembered that day as if it was yesterday. About thirty minutes had passed of Chris' bad videotaping. Half the time the camera was moving so much that it was usually pointed towards the wall, and when it wasn't moving it was Chris trying to flirt with the nurses. And finally came the moment he had been waiting for.

"So how does it feel to be a mom Brooke?" Rachel asked.

"Amazing." Brooke said as she held Brett. Lucas turned over to Brooke and noticed tears were threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Thanks for this Brooke." Lucas whispered as he squeezed her hand to comfort her. Brooke just smiled at him, to choked up to say anything. Lucas leaned in to give her a kiss when the T.V. instantly changed scenes and grabbed their attention. Lucas and Brooke stared at Rachel and Chris in a compromising situation. They were somewhat fully clothed but they were sure that, that would change soon.

"Hey Brooke!" Rachel said as she walked into the house. "What are you guys watch- Oh my God! Brooke that isn't what it looks like."

"What! Since when!" Brooke was surprised to say the least. "Don't you guys hate each other?!"

"Maybe we should turn this off…" Lucas said as things started to get heated up on the T.V.

"Oh my god." Brooke said as she noticed what Lucas was talking about. "Rachel since when?!"

"Brooke…I…" Rachel was tongue-tied not knowing what to say.

"Brooke is it really that bad?"

"Shut up Lucas!" Brooke said as she hit Lucas on the stomach knocking the wind out of him. Lucas groaned as he held his stomach from the pain. "Maybe I should go." Lucas groaned. "I'm going to Nathan's." Lucas said as he walked out, not wanting to get in the middle.

xxxxx

"Oh…hey man what are you doing here?"

"It's a war zone at my house" Lucas chuckled. "Is it cool if I hang out here?"

"Um actually-

"Oh my god." Lucas flinched as heard those words. "Lucas." Peyton said breathlessly. He turned around hoping that he was imagining her voice. She instantly ran and gave him a hug. Nathan stifled a laugh as he looked at Lucas and Peyton. Peyton looked as if she was holding on for dear life, while Lucas looked like if he was trying to get away. Lucas glared at Nathan for not warning him that Peyton was back in town.

"Peyton…uh…when-

"Almost two weeks ago."

"Uh…Wow." Lucas was speechless. This was unexpected.

"When did you come back?"

"Uh…ye-yesterday" Lucas was tongue-tied he could believe Peyton was back in town…with Brooke…and Brett. Ugh…he suddenly wished he could be back in New York.

"Hey Pey-" Haley stopped dead in her tracks. She saw Lucas giving her a cold glare and she saw Peyton looking like a love-struck teenager. "Hey Luke." Haley said awkwardly.

"Hey Hales." Lucas said through gritted teeth. "Peyton's back in town."

"Yeah did I forget to tell you?" Haley chuckled awkwardly.

"I believe so." Lucas said through gritted teeth.

"No it's better this way." Lucas gave Peyton a confused look. "This way I can see your reaction." Lucas gave her a weird look but Peyton didn't seem to notice.

"Hales, Nate can I talk to you guys for a sec?" Lucas said. "Excuse us." Lucas said as he dragged Nathan and Haley to the kitchen. "Why the hell didn't you guys tell me she was back in town?!" Lucas hissed.

"Lucas we're sorry. We were planning to tell you." Haley said Lucas just put his face in his hands and wondered if he could get out of this mess alive. All of sudden Lucas heard Nathan take a deep breath; he looked over and saw him laughing.

"I'm sorry man but you should've seen you face. It was priceless." Nathan said while laughing. Lucas just glared at him and pushed him.

"Shut up!"

"Calm down!" Nathan yelled as he pushed him back.

"Well why didn't you tell me she was back?!"

"We were planning to tell you! But we couldn't tell you yesterday with Brooke!" Lucas sighed when he realized they had a point.

"What now?"

"Now we act nice." Haley said as she pushed Lucas towards the room Peyton was in.

xxxxx

Peyton had been talking for, what Lucas felt like 2 hours but in reality it was probably forty-five minutes. He wasn't paying too much attention, he would catch bits and pieces of it but all he could think about was how he would tell Brooke. She didn't want to define their relationship already and now this would push her even farther away. He really didn't want to tell her, but if he didn't it would just make their situation even worse.

xxxxx

Lucas tiptoed around the house making sure that it was safe to stay. He didn't hear any yelling so he took that as a good sign. He started walking towards the living room when he saw Brooke sketching on the couch.

"Hey." Lucas said as he sat next to her.

"Hey."

"So are you ok?" Brooke took a deep breath before answering.

"Yeah." They sat in silence both wondering what to say next. "Did you know?"

"No…but I sorta guessed." Brooke sighed when she heard his answer.

"So was I the only one that didn't see this happening?"

"You just…you thought they hated each other, of course you didn't see this happening. Can I ask you something?" Brooke nodded. "Is it really that bad?"

"It's not. It's just…I hate. Not. Knowing things. I'd rather know because if I don't I feel like they don't trust me." Lucas just nodded in agreement knowing that he had to tell her about Peyton.

"Are you guys ok?"

"Yeah, we hashed it out and I told her to start trusting me with these things. I actually think this is a pretty good thing. Chris has changed a lot. He's a good guy. I know you mi-

"No your right. He has changed."

"How are Nate and Haley?"

"They're good. Uh speaking of which um… one of our friends from high school is visiting."

"Oh that's cool. Who?' Lucas started to get nervous and cleared his throat.

"Uh Peyton."

"Oh."

"Brooke I hope this doesn't change anything. I mean just cause she's back doesn't mean it'll change how I feel about you or Brett. I mean-

"Lucas." Brooke cut off his rambling. "I know this doesn't change anything. Like you said she's just a friend from high school."

"Sure?"

"Yes." Brooke insisted as she gave him a kiss.

"Ok. Now where's my handsome son?"

"Asleep." Lucas looked towards Brett room as Brooke said this.

"I kinda wanna wake him up."

"You better not. It took me forever to get him to go to sleep." Brooke warned. Lucas again looked towards Brett's room. "Lucas." Brooke warned. Lucas jumped off the couch and ran towards Brett's room. "Lucas Scott!" Brooke yelled as the doorbell rang. "Lucas you better not wake him up!" Brooke said as she opened the door to reveal Peyton. "Peyton." Brooke said surprised.

"Brooke what are you doing here?"

"I'm just kidding Brooke I won't wake him up." Lucas said as he walked towards Peyton and Brooke.

"Peyton uh what are you doing here?"

"Well since you ran out of Nathan and Haley's I didn't get a chance to tell you where I was staying. But oh my God B. Davis how long have you been in town?"

"I came in yesterday with Lucas."

"Lucas why didn't you tell me Brooke was back in town."

"Must've slipped my mind."

"Come in P. Sawyer we have a lot of catching up to do. So how long are you in Tree Hill for? How's L.A.?"

"I think I'm staying for good. L.A.'s great…but it's not home. What about you Ms. Owner-of-multi-million-dollar-company-clothes-over-bro's?"

"I think I'm here for good too. Like you said Tree Hill is home."

"Can you do that with Clothes over Bro's being in New York?"

"Yeah I mean Victoria wasn't to happy about it, but after I fired her-

"You fired Victoria?"

"Yeah."

"Well finally. You've never needed her Brooke if anything she needed you."

"Thanks P. Sawyer but what about you? How was L.A.?"

"L.A. was a good experience I worked at a record company there but that didn't work out."

"So what are you planning to do now?"

'I actually…my dad gave me this idea to start my own record company."

"Oh my God! That's a great idea P. Sawyer."

"Yeah he gave me some money to help me start it up. It's not much but it's something."

"Of course. Have you been scouting some places?"

"Actually that's what I wanted to talk to Lucas about. Would you mind asking you mom if I could use the space by Tric? I wouldn't be able to pay rent right now but I'm good for it. Once I start it up and get some artists."

"I don't think my mom would mind, but I'll talk to her. I have to call her anyway." Brooke gave Lucas a weird look but he didn't seem to notice.

"Uh Peyton do you want something to drink?"

"Yeah a coke is fine."

"Lucas can you help me?" Brooke said as she walked away with Lucas following close behind. "You're not seriously gonna tell your mom about Brett over the phone."

"Of course not. I'm just gonna ask her when she's coming to Tree Hill."

"Well what are we gonna tell Peyton?"

"I don't know just that we have a kid?"

"Lucas! Stop joking around!"

"I'm not! I'm just saying that we have to eventually tell her about Brett."

"What about if we take her to a restaurant and tell her there. That way if she tries to kill me there'll be a room full of witnesses."

"Brooke she has no reason to be mad we we're broken up." Lucas shrugged.

"I know but I still feel bad."

"Well don't." Lucas pulled her into a hug. "We did nothing wrong." Lucas kissed her. "Ok?"

"Ugh! Ok. But we're still telling her at a restaurant, just to be on the safe side." Brooke smirked.

xxxxx

**_Ok so I am so so so so sorry about the long await. I'm having trouble with this story. I really have no inspiration right now. So it took me forever to write this. Obviously it's a little shorter but like I said I'm having writers block right now. So please review. It might help me figure out where to take this._**

**_TeamxxBrucasxx- Thanks for the review. So I know you must hate me for taking SO long but I did the best I could. And btw school does suck all the essays I'm getting are killing my inspiration right now._**

**_Princesakarlita411- Thanks for the review. Hope you don't mind too much that I took so long. Please review._**

**_othfan326- Thanks for the review. I know I took forever for this chapter but I hope you liked it. Hope you liked the Brucas in this chapter. Not too much but I did what I could. I kinda planned Haley and Nathan to react like that since Lucas reacted more calmly then most people would in his situation. I thought that at least one person could react normally. Please review._**

**_OTHlover04- Thanks for the review. I know it's been a while but I hope you liked this chapter. Please review._**

**_pink5288- Hope you liked the chapter. Please review._**

**_monkeyluver012- Thanks for the review. Hope you liked the chapter. I know I didn't let Peyton find out about Brett in this chapter but I kinda wanted to set up a couple of other things before that came up. Please review._**

**_tanya2byour21- So I loved your review. Surprisingly a lot of people didn't think Nate and Haley would react like that but I thought at least one person could react normally since Lucas reacted pretty calmly. Please review._**

**_Shonnia- Loved your review btw. Hope the Brucas was ok this chapter. Idk I tried my best but writers block sure does suck. Sorry about the no Brett-Lucas bonding this chapter. I'm thinking that Petty Peyton should find out in the next chapter or the one after that, hopefully. Sorry that I took soooo long but I hope it was up to par. Please, Please review._**

**_oth23lover- So thanks for the review. Hope you liked the update. Sorry for taking sooo soo long, but I'm trying. Anyway please review._**

**_Brucasfan23- Thanks for the review. Hope you liked the Brucas in this chapter, hope you liked the chapter in general actually lol. Sorry for taking crazy loooooonnnngg but I'm trying to get the next chapter written. Anyway please, please review._**

**_emma134- Thanks for the review. Hope you liked the chapter sorry for taking forever to post this but I'm trying to update. Anyway please review._**


	9. Where are you Love?

"P. Sawyer I have something to tell you." Brooke said as she walked into Peyton's hotel room.

"Uh ok." Peyton said wondering what was so important.

"So you know how you came over yesterday?"

"Yeah."

"Well I had a great idea! Here." Brooke said as she took an envelope out of her purse.

"Brooke….What's this?" Peyton said as she opened the envelope. "Wow that's a lot of money. Brooke I'm confused, what's this for?"

"Well you know how you were talking about how you needed some startup money for your record company. That's it."

"Woah Brooke. I can't accept that. It's way too much money."

"No Peyton come on just accept it. It's not even that much. Just come on, consider it an investment on my part. I know your gonna be great at this. This is your thing. Please take it." Brooke begged.

"Brooke…" Peyton was torn. She wanted the money, but she didn't want Brooke to give her the money she wanted to earn it.

"Peyton come on."

"Alright. Oh my god Brooke, thank you so much!" Peyton squealed as she gave Brooke a hug.

"Don't worry about it Peyt. You're gonna be great at this I just know it."

"Thanks so much Brooke. God!" Peyton squealed. "God now I have so much work to do." Peyton chuckled.

"Well I'm gonna let you get to it. By the way you can get ready to move into the space next to Tric. Karen said ok."

"Aw can you tell Karen I said thanks."

"Of course. I'm glad your back Peyton." Brooke said sincerely.

"Glad to be back best friend." Brooke just smiled and walked out.

---

"Hey Hales." Brooke said as she walked into Nathan and Haley's house.

"Hey Brooke." Haley said as she handed Brett over.

"Thanks for taking care of him."

"It was no problem Brooke. Jamie loves hanging out with his cousin." Haley said as she started playing with Brett.

"Hey babe, were you good for Aunt Haley?" Brooke said as she played with Brett. Haley just smiled at their interaction.

"You're a great mom Brooke."

"Yeah, but a horrible friend." Brooke sighed.

"What are you talking about?" Haley asked confused what she was talking about.

"I went to go see Peyton today…."

"Oh." Haley said understanding.

"Yeah." Brooke sighed.

"What happened?"

"I went and told her about how I was giving her money to start up her record company."

"Oh my god Brooke that's so nice of you. But wait, why are you a bad friend?"

"She called me best friend, you know how we used to in high school, and well I couldn't say it back. I can't be her best friend after stabbing her in the back."

"Wait. I'm confused again. How did you stab her in the back?"

"God Haley! Keep up! What happened with me and Lucas? We slept together! Hello!" Brooke said as she pointed towards Brett.

"But that's not stabbing her in the back. Lucas said they had broken up."

"That doesn't matter. He was Peyton's and I slept with him."

"Was?" Haley asked with a sly smile.

"I mean is." Brooke said instantly correcting herself.

"No I'm pretty sure you meant was. What's going on there?" Haley said referencing to her and Lucas' close relationship.

"Nothing." Brooke responded looking everywhere and anywhere except at Haley.

"Ok Brooke you've been a horrible liar since high school so just spill it."

"Alright… Me and Lucas have… just been getting closer lately." Haley shook her head before responding.

"So you're pretty much doing the stupid friends-with-benefits thing again?"

"No, no friends-with-benefits. Just friends testing boundaries."

"How far are you pushing it?" Haley asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"We're not having sex if that's what you mean." Brooke said seriously.

"Really?" Haley asked surprised.

"Yeah. I've just decided that before we take it to the next step we should take it slow. I mean we have to think of Brett now. If we screw up and it doesn't work out I don't want Brett to suffer."

"So you think it won't work out."

"What are you Dr. Phil or something?" Brooke said jokingly.

"I'm just trying to figure out where your heads at Brooke." Haley said trying to get Brooke to be serious.

"I don't know where my heads at Haley. I'm just trying to take it as it comes." Brooke said wanting to change the subject.

"Alright I just want you to give it a chance. I know how you are Brooke. When you think it's gonna be too hard you just quit and don't even try."

"I'm trying to give it a chance Haley."

"Trying?" Haley said confused. She wanted to make sure that Brucas got a fair chance this time. And she knew that she had to figure out if Brooke would give it a chance.

"I'm not gonna lie Haley. It's really hard to trust Lucas. But I'm trying. I can't say I trust him fully right now. It's like I'm putting my heart on the line for a third time. And the first two times I didn't exactly come out with my heart fully intact." Haley just nodded understanding what Brooke was talking about. She knew that Lucas would have to work as hard as he could to break down the wall that Brooke had put up. Haley leaned over and gave Brooke a half hug, since she was holding Brett.

"I'm sorry Brooke."

"For what?"

"For Lucas being an ass. No one deserves to be cheated on." Haley said as a tear fell from Brooke's eyes.

"It's not your fault." Brooke shrugged.

"I know. But speaking from someone who was once in Lucas' position." Brooke knew that Haley was talking about her and Chris. "Sometimes someone does questionable actions… because they're worried that if they let that chance go, then they're gonna be wondering they're whole life about what could've been. But once they get their loved one back… they hold on for dear life."

"But I can't help wonder if I'm the one." Brooke said finally revealing one of her deepest darkest thoughts.

"I have question for you." Brooke nodded signaling Haley to continue. "Have you been pining for Lucas all these years?" Brooke took a second to think about her answer.

"Honestly I haven't been _pining_ per say…but I have wondered what would happen if we got a fair chance. If there was no one else but me and him. I mean _every time_ we've dated there's always been a third person."

"Peyton." Haley said knowing that's who she was talking about.

"Yeah." Brooke nodded. "I want this time to be just me and him. But…"

"Peyton's back." Haley said in disbelief that Brooke and Lucas couldn't get a fair chance now.

"Yeah." Brooke nodded.

"Honestly all I can say is just pretend that Peyton is your old friend Peyton. Not Peyton the cheater."

"That's pretty hard Haley." Brooke chuckled bitterly.

"I know, but it's the only way you'll actually give Lucas a chance to sweep you of your feet."

"I guess…." Brooke said hoping Haley was right. She didn't even know if Lucas wanted to sweep her off her feet. All she could do was close her eyes and jump in, and hope she wouldn't get screwed over in the end. Brooke just wanted her heart to come out fully intact this time. She wasn't sure if she could take her heart being broken again.

---

_**Three Days Later**_

Peyton's heels tapped on the old wooden floor. She walked over to the desk and sat down. She just sat there staring into space.

She got it.

Finally.

Red Bedroom Records was finally getting started.

It was only a matter of time before the rest of the equipment was sent over. Right now the only things in the studio were her desk and her chair. But right now she wouldn't worry about everything else in her mind. No artists for the label. The equipment. The fact that she wasn't sure where to start. No, right now she was gonna sit there and just stare at the perfect view. Most people would think she should be in front of a window but Peyton wasn't excited about her 2nd story office staring at a brick wall. No she could just imagine how many artists would be on the other side of that desk. She sat there daydreaming knowing that one day her daydreams would be reality. Suddenly another pair of shoes hitting the floor took her from her thoughts. She didn't know who that could be. Brooke? No she was probably at Lucas'. Lucas? Maybe, she hadn't seen him since that day in his house with Brooke. She had been so busy ordering equipment and furniture she hadn't had a chance to say thank you. Maybe that was him. Suddenly she felt her heart flutter at the thought of Lucas. She stood up ready to give him a hug the minute he entered. Her smile suddenly fell when she saw him. The smug face. Guitar slung over the shoulder. Chris Keller. She must've been a bitch to someone in her past life.

"Missed me?" Chris said with a smug smile. Peyton gave him a cold glare when before responding.

"How about get the hell out of my studio. Or better yet get the hell out of Tree Hill." Chris just chuckled before sitting down on the chair in front of the desk.

"You can sit down." Chris pointed to the chair.

"What are you doing here Keller?"

"Chris Keller feels like giving in the spirit of the holiday season. Chris is ready for his third CD. And since one of my good friends owns a label I thought 'what better way to give, then Chris grace her with the chance to record his CD at her label."

"First were not friends. And second I don't want you on this label."

"Wow." Chris chuckled amused.

"What? Did you really think we were friends? Or did you think I would _actually_ consider working with you."

"Goldie Locks how did you pay for all this stuff?"

"What? Why does that matter?" Chris shrugged waiting for her to respond. "I have an investor. Why?"

"What would this investor think about Chris being on the label?" Chris asked with a smug face.

"I think she would say 'no' considering it's-

"Peyton!" Brooke yelled from the outside of the studio. "So I was thinking- Chris!" Brooke ran over to Chris and gave him a hug.

"Wow at least one person missed the Keller." Chris said as he hugged Brooke and smirked at Peyton's shocked face.

"Chris where the hell have you been?!" Brooke said as she hit Chris on the arm. Peyton was lost why did Brooke seem so close to Chris?

"Ow! Brooke be careful Chris bruises easily." Brooke rolled her eyes at Chris rubbing his arm. "Chris had some unfinished business."

"Yeah like what?" Brooke said mocking him.

"Music. Which brings me to my next point. Keller is thinking about being on this label." Chris said as he smirked at Peyton. Peyton opened her mouth to respond but Brooke beat her to it.

"That would be awesome! Oh my God Peyton! You're gonna work on his next album?" Peyton opened her mouth to respond but this time Chris beat her to it.

"Eh. We're working out the details right now." Chris shrugged. "I need to see if Peyton can afford me." Chris chuckled.

"Shut up! But seriously that's great. We need to go out to dinner and catch up."

"Of course Chris needs to fill you in on his hectic rock star life." Chris smirked.

"Shut up. Look Lucas is downstairs lemme go get him." Brooke said as she walked out of the studio.

"Wow so your investor actually seems interested in me." Chris smirked.

"Yeah well Lucas is coming upstairs let's see what he thinks." Peyton said as she smirked. She knew the minute Lucas saw Chris he would be against the idea of Chris on Peyton's label. Chris just shrugged.

"By the way, my 'friend' was Brooke. You know the _owner_ of this label." Chris smirked. Peyton just wanted to smack that smirk of his face. But Lucas started walking into the studio, and Peyton decided Lucas should be the one to kick his ass.

"You're back!" Lucas said as he walked in and saw Chris. Peyton smiled. She knew it was only a matter of time before Lucas kicked Chris' ass.

"Chris had some unfinished business." Chris shrugged.

"Of course. So what's up? Are you staying?" Peyton sat there confused. Why did Lucas seem happy to see Chris?

"Seems that way. At least until I finish my next CD. The Keller was thinking about recording on Goldie Locks label."

"What?" Peyton smiled that was the reaction she was looking for. "That's great!" Maybe not. "That's a great idea. Keeps you in Tree Hill longer. Plus I know some people who miss you." Lucas smirked. Chris knew he was talking about Rachel, but decided to act dumb.

"Baby Chris? How is he by the way?" Brooke and Lucas' faces fell. Peyton was confused. Who the hell was Baby Chris?

"Who's Baby Chris?"

"Uh….um….this um… This dog!" Brooke said nervously. Chris gave her a confused look. As did Peyton. "Yeah this dog. Um we had a dog in New York. And um Chris called him Baby Chris….Yeah." Brooke nodded nervously. She hoped that Peyton bought her horrible lie.

"Uh ok." Peyton nodded confused.

"Yeah so Chris are you hungry? I think you're hungry." Brooke rambled nervously. "Yeah were just gonna go out to lunch. Come on Chris." Brooke said as she pushed Chris out the door with Lucas in tow.

---

"Ok the Keller is confused. What the hell were you talking about in there?" Brooke didn't say anything hoping Lucas would jump in save her. She looked over at him and he just shrugged.

"Ok so… I haven't exactly told Peyton about…Brett." Brooke said sheepishly.

"What?! Why not?"

"Timing…and just other things have gotten in the way. And your not one to talk! You've been gone for weeks, to God knows where! Without a call or any sort of message that you're alive!" Brooke ranted. Chris flinched knowing this would come up sooner or later. But he had hoped it would've been later. Chris opened his mouth to respond before Brooke cut him off. "And don't say you had some unfinished business! That's always your excuse."

"Alright fine." Chris said as he lifted his hands as a sign of surrender. "You know how I am Brooke. I don't like to stay in one place to long. I'm independent I'm like a lone wolf." Chris smirked.

"Shut up!" Brooke said as she rolled her eyes. "You hungry?"

"Nah I wanna go see Baby Chris though." Chris shrugged.

"Yeah let's go." Lucas said as he pointed to his car, Lucas opened the trunk to his car and Chris looked at him like if he was crazy.

"I'm not sticking my guitar in there man."

"Dude it's just for a second."

"No."

"Well then I don't know what your gonna do cause your gonna be cramped in the backseat with that." Lucas said as he pointed towards Chris' guitar.

"I'll manage." Chris said as he walked towards the car. Brooke just scoffed as Lucas shrugged.

"So did you guys miss me?"

"You know it Chris." Brooke said sarcastically.

"Eh I'm missable." Chris shrugged. "So anything new happen while I was gone?"

"Well let's see, we came to Tree Hill at the same time as Peyton, uh me and Lucas live at his house right now, oh yeah and I found yours and Rachel's sex tape."

"Really? I've been looking for that." Chris smirked.

"Chris!" Brooke shrieked as Lucas chuckled.

"Kidding. Sorry about that, if I'm not mistaken we were drunk." Chris shrugged.

"So you're saying you guys didn't have a relationship?" Brooke asked unconvinced.

"I'm Chris Keller. I don't do relationships."

"So you're telling me you don't like her?" Lucas asked knowing Chris was lying.

"Like is a strong word." Chris said trying to avoid the seriousness of their conversation.

"Whatever." Brooke said getting annoyed with Chris. "See this is the problem Chris! This is why the rest of the world thinks you're an ass! Cause of all your jokes when were trying to have a serious conversation!"

"Brooke." Lucas said trying to calm her down. "I think what Brooke's trying to say is that maybe its time to settle down. You know having a girlfriend isn't that bad." Lucas said as he winked at Brooke.

"Yeah you guys are one to talk. Are you guys dating yet? Or are you still in denial?"

"Denial of what?" Brooke asked annoyed.

"Denial of your feelings. You guys are perfect for each other, but you refuse to accept it because of your stupid insecurities. Lucas is insecure that you'll never forgive him for the Peyton thing. And Brooke you're insecure cause of Peyton." After Chris said that an awkward silence fell over the car.

"Lets not talk about this." Brooke whispered.

"You brought it up." Chris shrugged. Everyone rode in silence the rest of the ride home. The ride seemed to last forever, until they finally reached their house. "So who's taking care of Brett?"

"Rachel." Brooke shrugged. Chris sighed knowing that Brooke was gonna try to start up their conversation from the car again.

"Rach!" Brooke yelled through the house.

"Brooke? Finally!" Rachel yelled from the kitchen. "Since you're here I'm gonna go. I met this guy…" Rachel said as walked towards Brooke. She looked up and saw Chris standing next to Brooke and Rachel stared wide eyed.

"Chris is back." Brooke said nervously.

"Yeah I see that." Rachel nodded. "I'm gonna go." Rachel said as she walked quickly towards the door.

"That was awkward." Lucas said trying to relieve the tension.

"You're telling me. Now where's Baby Chris? I know he missed me." Chris said as he started walking towards Brett's room.

"Hey let me go talk to him." Brooke said as she pointed towards where Chris had just gone.

"Be nice." Lucas said.

"I'm always nice." Lucas gave her a skeptical look. "Alright I'll be nice."

"Hey."

"He's asleep." Chris said as he stood over Brett's crib.

"Yeah he sleeps a lot actually." Brooke chuckled; Chris nodded not really wanting to talk.

"You know she missed you." Chris looked at her skeptically not believing that. "She never said so. But I could tell." Brooke shrugged. Chris just stayed quiet. "Why are you fighting it? I can tell you like her, by the way you just looked at her."

"I'm not fighting it. I'm just not rooting for it, like you are. Why do you want me to like her so much anyway?" Chris shrugged.

"Cause, you guys are exactly alike. You're an arrogant asshole. And she's an arrogant bitch." Brooke chuckled. "But… you're a good guy Chris. I see the way you treat Brett, hell I see the way you've helped me over the last year. And Rachel is the same way. You both want people to think you don't care about anyone but yourselves, but yet you guys care a lot about Brett… and me. So that's why I think _you_ need to go talk to her."

"How about we make a deal." Brooke cocked an eyebrow. "I'll talk to her if you talk to Peyton and tell her the truth about Brett." Brooke smiled. "And start accepting that you love Lucas." Chris smirked.

"Deal." Brooke smiled. "But I don't love Lucas." Brooke smiled at Chris before she left.

Chris sighed and looked down at Brett. "I've missed you and your crazy mom kiddo." Chris whispered to Brett.

---

_Ring Ring_

"Hello." Peyton answered.

"Hey friend!" Brooke responded. "So I've been thinking, we haven't gotten a chance to _officially_ catch up. So how about we go out to dinner tomorrow?" Brooke asked nervously.

"Uh yeah that's fine Brooke." Brooke and Peyton began to work out some of the details before Brooke hung up.

"Who was that?" Lucas asked.

"Peyton. We're going to dinner tomorrow."

"So you're gonna tell her?" Brooke nodded half-heartedly. "Do you want me to go?"

"No, I need to this."

"Ok, but you know I'm here for you." Brooke nodded. Lucas looked at her before giving her a kiss and leaving her with her thoughts. Brooke was nervous. She knew it was time to tell Peyton, but she was afraid Peyton was gonna hate her. She just hoped that tomorrow Peyton would let her explain before going crazy on her.

Xxxxx

_**So no real excuses except that laziness has catched up to me. But I actually hope you guys are happy that Chris is back. Also I actually got a little inspiration for this chapter. So please review! And also a sorry for taking so damn long! Lol**_


	10. Chapter 10

_Buzz Buzz_

Brooke blinked twice.

_Buzz Buzz._

What the hell was that? Brooke thought.

_Buzz Buzz._

Brooke looked over and saw her phone vibrating. She opened it and looked at the text message.

_Morning Pretty Girl._

Brooke just groaned and laid her head back down on the pillow.

"You know you suck right?" Brooke said as she turned over to Lucas.

"Actually no one's ever told me that." Lucas smirked. "Time to get up." Brooke just groaned.

"It's too early!"

"It's 9:00." Lucas chuckled. Brooke just stayed in bed deciding to ignore him.

"Come on. Everyone's up and there's breakfast." Brooke just groaned. "Come on…It's you favorite." Brooke just opened one eye.

"Pancakes?"

"Yeah." Lucas chuckled. He could get used to seeing her every morning.

"Alright alright." Brooke groaned as she got up. Lucas got off the bed and pulled her up.

"Is Brett up?"

"Yeah I think Chris has him right now."

"I'm glad he's back." Brooke said sincerely.

"He doesn't like that one." Brooke and Lucas heard Rachel say. "He doesn't like that one." Brooke walked into the living room and say Rachel in sweat pants in a tank top in the kitchen. Chris was sitting down in his boxers and a white tee with Brett in his lap. "Chris!"

"What?" Chris asked annoyed.

"He doesn't like that one." Chris just kept putting some fruity pebbles in a bowl. "Chris I just said he doesn't like that one." Rachel said annoyed.

"It's fruity pebbles." Chris stated. "He loves fruity pebbles."

"No he doesn't." Rachel said as she took a box of the cabinet. "He _loves_ cocoa pebbles." Chris just got up and grabbed a spoon still holding on to Brett. "God you're so annoying Chris." Rachel said as Chris started making faces to Brett mocking Rachel. "I keep saying his favorite is cocoa pebbles and you keep serving fruity pebbles." Chris kept mocking Rachel making Brett laugh. Chris just smiled at him and put him in his high chair. Rachel sat down next to Brett with a bowl of cocoa pebbles.

"What's that?" Chris pointed to the bowl.

"Cocoa pebbles. _Brett's_ favorite."

"No _Brett's_ favorite is fruity pebbles."

"Here Brett." Rachel said as she tried to feed Brett some cocoa pebbles.

"Don't feed him that. He's not even gonna eat it." Chris said annoyed. "Rachel." Chris noticed she was doing it on purpose to annoy him. "Rach." He said getting annoyed that Rachel kept trying to feed Brett cocoa pebbles. Chris suddenly got up and decided to throw the bowl of cocoa pebbles in Rachel's shirt, causing Rachel to yell.

"Chris! Dammit! You're so immature!" Rachel said as she threw the bowl of fruity pebbles on Chris' head. Brett just started laughing at both of them watching there fight, while he got dirty from the fight as well.

"Hey! Hey!" Brooke yelled running over to Chris and Rachel hoping to stop the fight, with Lucas in tow. "Both of you guys stop!" Brooke said as she reached the kitchen. Chris just put down the gallon of milk. There was food all over the place as Chris and Rachel decided to do a full on food fight. There was syrup, milk, fruity and cocoa pebbles on them, as well as eggs and even a couple of pancakes on the floor. All of sudden Brett's laughs interrupted the silence. As Brooke looked at him she saw milk and fruity and cocoa pebbles all over Brett and his highchair. Brett just looked content after seeing his two favorite people fighting.

"You guys are so immature!" Brooke yelled. Although she had to admit that the scene was hilarious, especially with Brett happily eating fruity and cocoa pebbles off his high chair.

"It was her!" Chris yelled.

"Oh yeah cause I'm the one that decided to throw cocoa pebbles down my shirt."

"Enough! Both of you guys are cleaning up this mess!" Brooke said as she picked up Brett and took him to her bedroom to clean him up. Lucas just chuckled as he handed Chris a mop.

"Yeah. You guys don't like each other." He chuckled.

"Shut up!" Both Rachel and Chris yelled.

---

Brooke started taking Brett's clothes off getting him ready for a bath.

"We live with crazy people don't we?" Brooke chuckled as Brett laughed with her and stuck his fingers in his mouth.

"Hey." Lucas said as he walked into their room. "Hey kiddo." Lucas said as he picked up Brett. "Did you have fun out there?" Lucas chuckled as Brett smiled. "God his hair is sticky."

"I know that's why I'm giving him a bath." Brooke said as she wrapped Brett in a towel.

"How bout I take you out to breakfast after? Since our breakfast seems to be on the kitchen floor." Lucas chuckled.

"Yeah they're great aren't they?" Brooke said sarcastically.

"Go easy on them."

"Yeah yeah." Brooke said as she walked into the bathroom with Brett.

---

"So I was thinking Brett's birthday is coming up, what do you think about throwing him a party?" Brooke said as she picked at her food.

"Yeah that would be good, what are you thinking about getting?"

"I was thinking we should get balloons, cake, a piñata, and a clown."

"A clown? Haley's scared of clowns."

"I know." Brooke chuckled. "Have you ever seen her near one? It's hilarious." Lucas chuckled.

"Is that the only reason you're getting a clown?"

"Duh." Lucas just laughed at Brooke. "Hey babe, why aren't you eating?" Brooke asked Brett.

"He's probably full from all the cereal this morning."

"But he hasn't been eating that much lately." Brooke said as she tried to feed Brett.

"Here pass him to me. I'll try to feed him some of my food." Brooke took Brett out of his high chair and sat him in Lucas' lap. "Hey Brett, here you want some eggs?" Lucas tried to feed Brett some food while the door dinged. Peyton walked in to the restaurant and right up to the counter.

"I don't know I guess I'll just try to feed him later." Peyton immediately recognized Brooke's voice.

"Yeah. Your not very hungry are you little guy?" Peyton turned around when she heard that Lucas' voice.

"Lucas! Brooke!" Peyton yelled. She immediately noticed how close they seemed to be sitting. But when Brooke turned around she saw something unexpected, a little baby boy sitting in Lucas' lap. "Who's this?"

---

"Lucas! Brooke!" Brooke turned around to the voice yelling her name. She prayed that it wasn't Peyton's voice even though she knew it was. As soon as she turned around she saw the confusion and anxiousness filling Peyton's eyes, and if she was not mistaken she even saw a glint of fear. She cursed Tree Hill's bad timing, Peyton wasn't supposed to find out about Brett right now, not like this. She wanted to sit Peyton down and explain what happened, explain how sorry she was to keep Peyton from this part of her life. Her mind started coming up with so many excuses and she opened her mouth to respond, but none of them seemed right.

---

"Brooke who is he?" Peyton asked again. Lucas opened his mouth to respond but Brooke cut him off.

"He's my son." Brooke voice trembled.

"You have a son?" Peyton asked immediately becoming mad. How could Brooke keep a secret like this, from her supposed best friend?

"Yeah, his name is Nathan Brett Scott." Brooke said hoping that Peyton didn't put two and two together.

"Wait? Scott?" Peyton said hoping she heard wrong. But when she looked at the little boy in Lucas' lap, she immediately knew.

"Yeah he's our son." Lucas broke in. Peyton felt like she was gonna faint. How could her best friend have a son? With her ex-boyfriend. She felt her throat closing up on her. She could feel the walls closing in on her.

"Peyton I'm sorr-

Peyton put up her hand as a sign to shut Brooke up.

"How…How old is he?"

"Almost two." Brooke whispered. Peyton's looked up at the mention of this. She and Lucas were still together two years ago.

"Wait, two years ago? But me and Luk-

"It was after we broke up."

"Yeah Peyton I wouldn't have let Lucas cheat on you with me." Brooke said in a raspy voice, from the disappointment that Peyton would think so little of her.

"Yeah but you obviously let Lucas knock you up." Peyton said bitterly.

"Peyton it wasn't something planned."

"Obviously not Brooke! You never think about anything other then yourself! I mean obviously you didn't think how this would affect me! I mean my ex-boyfriend Brooke?"

"Peyton-

"No!" Peyton yelled. "God I have to get out of here." Peyton whispered as she left.

---

Peyton was driving around with tears filling her eyes. She probably shouldn't have been driving in the state she was in. But she couldn't help it. Peyton still couldn't believe Brooke and Lucas had kept her from such an important part of their life. And what hurt even more is the sight of all three of them at the café. They looked like the picture perfect family, something she would never have. Even as a child Peyton had never had that family. Her mom died when she was young, her dad was never there. And that's all she ever wanted was that family; sitting at the table, all laughing and conversing, the perfect husband, the perfect wife. That's all she ever wanted was the stability of a perfect family. That's what she saw in Lucas. Her safety net. Her Hero. Without him she had this void. He was the only one she had ever loved. Well scratch that not her only love. There was another, but he never came to mind when she pictured her family. She let go of that dream a long time ago.

---

Alright well that's it. Its short I know. But I had to end it there. Sorry for the long wait. I'm not sure where this story is going so I need some ideas. Any suggestions and they will be listened. Most of the things I do are based suggestions. Like the Chris and Rachel relationship that was based of a suggestion from a lot of reviewers, because I wasn't planning it. But anyway please review.


	11. When It's Time

"So maybe this was a bad idea" Chris referred to the food fight. Rachel refused to answer and kept cleaning. "So you're gonna ignore me now?" No Answer. "Alright two can play at that game. You know what though? I don't even know why you're mad."

"What? Are you being serious?" Rachel scoffed, obviously he struck a nerve. "I'm not the one that came back and suddenly started being an ass."

"Only because you've been avoiding me"

"Maybe cause everyone saw us having sex on TV Chris! But of course you were no where to be found."

"Ok so it's my fault?"

"Yeah well you left."

"It's not like we were together." Chris stated.

"Whatever Chris lets just clean"

"That's it isn't it? You're mad about me leaving."

"Not everything is about you."

"But this is. Why are you so pissed I left? I always leave."

"Yeah and you always give us a little bit of a warning like a call or text or something. But this time you just left."

"Its just who I am Rach alright?"

"Yeah I know you are. But after everything... never mind." Rachel shook it off.

"After what?"

"Nothing."

"No what Rach? Us fucking? You never seemed to care before. So why would I think you cared now?"

"This isn't about that. Before that we were friends alright. It woulda been nice if you had acknowledged that." Chris had never seen that side of her, the side that actually cared.

"Um alright. I'm sorry. Next time…next time I'll give you a proper good bye." Chris smirked.

"Shut up."

Lucas walked in to his house hearing the laughs of Rachel and Chris. "So I'm assuming everything worked out?"

"For now." Rachel answered.

"I'm just glad they're wont be anymore food fights."

"I don't know about that man. When Rachel's 'time of the month' comes around they're may be a couple of more incidents." Chris laughed.

"Shut up. Hey where's Brooke?"

"Oh uh she just had to go run some errands."

_Flashback_

"_Brooke I'm sorry about that alright?" Lucas looked at Brooke and he had never seen her that broken. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes._

"_Um I gotta go." Brooke said as she strapped Brett into his car seat._

"_Brooke do you want me to go with you?"_

"_No I need some time alone." Brooke said as she ran out of the café._

"_Brooke!" Lucas slammed his fist onto the table. "Dammit Peyton." He grumbled_

"Oh ok." Rachel said satisfied with his answer. "I'm gonna go shower." She said as she walked out.

"I think you need some help." Chris said as he followed her.

"Yeah right Chris!" Rachel scoffed as Lucas burst out laughing.

"Oh yeah she wants me."

"In what world Keller?"

---

"Hey Brooke call me alright? I'm worried about you. We need to talk about this. You can't avoid me forever." Lucas said into his phone. It was already nightfall and Brooke hadn't come by the house, or called or anything. He began to get worried and angry, why couldn't she trust him enough to talk to him? Classic Brooke, close off once a problem hits.

---

"Brooke! Call me alright! I'm getting worried." Rachel yelled angrily into the phone.

"What do you think happened now?" Chris asked as he flipped through the channels.

"I don't even know, all I know is Brooke isn't answering and it's already dark out."

"It's Tree Hill Rach, not New York. She's fine."

"I doesn't matter she's been gone since morning and Lucas hasn't told me anything, so obviously something's wrong."

"Look" Chris sighed "I get your worried and all but she knows this place like the back of her hand so she's probably just hiding out until she feels better. You know how Davis is."

"I guess you're right…" Rachel sighed.

"When is Chris Keller ever wrong?"

"Shut up." Rachel said as she kept watching the TV wondering where Brooke could be. "Wait I think I know where she's at." Rachel said as she started to leave.

"Hey bring the Keller something to eat. A pizza would be nice." Chris smirked.

"So would a screw you."

---

_1 AM_

_Buzz Buzz_

_Buzz Buzz_

_Buzz Buzz_

"Hello?" Lucas said groggily.

"Now you wanna talk? At one in the morning? You know this morning at breakfast woulda been nice instead of just running out." Lucas was pissed he wasn't gonna let her off that easy.

"Alright I'll go over. Give me the hotel name."

---

_Knock Knock_

"You wanted to talk?" Lucas said as the door opened. "So talk."

"Why are you so angry? I'm the one that should be pissed."

"Peyton I'm angry because Brooke has been missing since morning."

"I didn't know you cared so much." Peyton grumbled.

"Well I do alright? Brett is with her too Peyton. All this cause you decided to through a fit."

"Well I'm sorry maybe because I got caught off guard since _my_ ex-boyfriend and my best friend have a baby and I didn't even know about it. You know it woulda been nice to get a little phone call Lucas. With all our history I thought _you_ would've handled this differently." Peyton said angrily.

Lucas just sighed he knew she was right; this probably was a big surprise to her. But he was so worried about Brooke and Brett, he didn't have time for Peyton right now.

"Look Peyt I get it alright? And I'm sorry you had to find out about it like you did, but Brooke was planning to tell you at dinner tonight."

"What happened Luke? How did it get here? You and Brooke with a baby?" Peyton sighed.

"I think Brooke wanted to tell you."

"Yeah well she's not here. And I deserve an explanation." Peyton said angrily

"Peyton I can't deal with you right now, my son and his mother are missing and I don't know where they're at." Lucas sighed as he sat on the bed. Peyton saw how distraught he looked, and she felt bad for him.

"She's fine Luke. You know how Brooke is." Peyton said as she sat next to him.

"I know, it doesn't make me any less worried though."

"Look how bout we leave this conversation for tomorrow? I'll go help you find Brooke." Peyton said as she got up off the bed.

"What? No Peyton you don't have to do that." Lucas shook his head.

"Come on we both know you're gonna go look for her once you leave this room, and from the looks of it you've barely had any sleep." Lucas looked unsure. "I'll drive. Let's go." Peyton said as she pulled him off the bed.

"Thanks for this Peyt." Lucas smiled.

"Anything for you Luke."

---

"Luke. Luke." Peyton whispered. It was 3 in the morning and their Brooke Davis hunt wasn't leading them anywhere, and to make things worse Luke had fallen asleep. Peyton decided to drive to the river court to take one last look, and if Brooke wasn't there she was gonna go back to the hotel room and call it a night.

"Come on Brooke be here." Peyton whispered to herself. She groaned when she realized Brooke wasn't there. She was too tired to even drive to the hotel room, so she parked the car and decided to take a nap. Making herself comfortable she looked over at Lucas and saw him fast asleep in his seat. She smiled as she closed her eyes; she was doing this for him, honestly she didn't give a flying rat's ass where Brooke was at she was still pissed at her but Lucas needed her and she was there for him.

---

"You know Davis I wouldn't think you would be here in a hotel room. The beach, the river court, your old house, hell my old house but definitely not here. I would've thought you would've been a little more creative then this. Is the old age getting to you?" Rachel smirked.

"Well I couldn't exactly go to the beach or the river court at 3 in the morning with Brett now could I? And considering we sold our houses this was the only other option." Brooke said as she was flipping through the channels.

"You know you worried me. I can understand hiding from Lucas or Chris, but me Brooke really?"

"I'm not hiding out. I just need some time to think."

"What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Well obviously something's going on since according to Lucas you've been out 'running errands'. What happened at breakfast?"

"Nothing."

"You know I don't like this Brooke. The old Brooke would've gone off on Lucas for being an idiot for whatever he did and go on with her life. The Tree Hill Brooke is honestly kinda boring."

"Peyton found out about Brett this morning." Brooke sighed.

"And…"

"And she gave me hugs and kisses and now we're all gonna be best friends like we used to." Brooke said sarcastically.

"So she's pissed. Who cares Brooke? Honestly you have nothing to feel bad for. And you know this so cut the crap and stop feeling bad for yourself."

"Wow harsh much?"

"Brooke just come home please it's three in the morning, I'm sleepy, we have an early meeting with the contractors tomorrow, and I just wanna go to sleep." Rachel whined.

"I don't wanna talk to Lucas right now."

"I'm pretty sure that won't be a problem since Lucas is probably asleep. Come on let's go."

"What about Brett he's asleep you know."

"That's why they invented car seats hunny. Now let's go." Rachel motioned towards the door.

15 minutes later they were finally in the car. While driving home Brooke still thought going home wasn't the right idea, but Rachel was right they did have a meeting with the contractors tomorrow.

"Hey isn't that Peyton's car?" Brooke said as she pointed across the street towards the river court.

"I don't know Brooke and I really don't care. I'm tired." Rachel whined.

"Pull over we have to make sure she's alright."

"Brooke…" Rachel whined.

"It'll take 5 minutes." As Rachel pulled over Brooke realized that Peyton was fast asleep in the driver's seat and Luke was in the passengers. "Let's go she's fine."

"Brooke…"

"Just drive home Rachel. Please." Brooke pleaded.

"Alright." Brooke and Rachel stayed quiet the whole ride home.

"Brooke it was probably nothing." Rachel said as she parked the car in the drive way. Brooke just stayed quiet and took Brett into the house.

"Rachel, Chris I'm out looking for Brooke…I'm with Peyton I'll be home later if Brooke get's there call me." Lucas' voice rang through the house as Rachel pushed the answering machine button.

"Brooke did you hear him?"

"Yeah." Brooke said as she walked into her room and closed the door behind her

---

Ugh waking up with the sun in your face was not fun. And then with your whole body aching was even worse. Lucas started moving around trying to get his body to loosen up. He got up and stretched. He groaned trying to move his neck. He looked over and saw Peyton fast asleep. He looked at his cell phone and saw that it was 5:22 AM.

"Hey" Peyton said groggily.

"Hey"

"What time is it?" Peyton said as she stretched.

"5:20"

"Are you serious?" Peyton chuckled. "Ugh I just want to go to my bed."

"Yeah me too. How bout we call it a night…or morning?" Lucas tried to crack a joke.

"Well we should. My hotel?" Peyton said as she turned on her car. Lucas looked over at her surprised.

"Well uh... I don't-

"Lucas calm down, I mean your car is at my hotel." Peyton giggled as Lucas' face turned red with embarrassment.

"Of course. My bad" Lucas whispered.

"It's fine. I mean just everyone wants to sleep with you, and no one can be just friends… you're that hot." Lucas looked over and was about to apologize. "Chill Lucas it was a joke."

"Oh ok that's good. I thought you were mad." Lucas chuckled. "But I am glad we can be just friends."

"Yeah me too." Peyton whispered. No way was she just gonna be friends with Lucas, but she had to take it step-by-step.

"Hey Peyton thanks for this." Lucas said as he smiled at her. "You've changed a lot. In LA you probably would've stayed at your hotel throwing a fit."

"I think this is exactly what I needed to get back to my old self. Some Tree Hill lovin" Peyton chuckled.

"Yeah I'm glad all of us are back here. It can get back to the way it used too."

"Everything was simpler then." Peyton sighed.

"But we thought every little problem was the end of the world." Lucas chuckled.

"Yeah but now looking back, those problems were so insignificant."

"Yeah you know? So many problems could've been avoided. But of course we all exploded them to something that was bigger then it was."

"I miss it sometimes." Peyton sighed.

"Me too. You know just worrying what I was gonna have for dinner that night." Lucas chuckled. "Or what my point-average was."

"Worrying which party to go to?"

"Nah I was never the party type."

"Me either." Lucas looked over not believing her. "Seriously. I went for Brooke you know? To be her party buddy. I would've much rather been at home listening to music and drawing."

"Ugh me too" Lucas laughed remember all the times Brooke dragged him to the 'party of the year'. "I would much rather read a good book and listen to some music then go watch a bunch of people get drunk."

"I agree with you on that one Scott."

"It's crazy that we didn't work out." Lucas said surprising Peyton. "You know with all our similarities everyone thought we were each others halves." Peyton was about to agree that they were perfect together before he started up again. "I've learned though that your other half is someone who is your opposite. Someone to better your faults. If you're impatient, they're patient. If you're shy, they're outgoing. If you have a temper, they don't. I think that's what your other half is. Don't you agree?"

"Yeah, totally." Peyton whispered feeling worse then ever. "We're here."

"Alright I'm gonna go home, thanks Peyton for everything." Lucas smiled. He went over for a hug and she took a deep breath in, he smelled perfect. "Bye."

"Bye." Peyton whispered as he shut the door.

xxx

_So I officially suck. I can understand if there are no readers. But someone did ask for an update and I promised one so here it is. Honestly there are only a couple of chapters left to tie up loose ends and then it's finished. If anyone is reading comment and tell me if it sucks. Tell me if it's good. Tell me what you want in this story. Cause honestly I don't know where to take it._


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